Celiac disease may be an underlying cause for women who have miscarriages or pre-term deliveries. There are many reasons why a pregnancy may not go to term, but when a woman is having difficulty carrying a child to term, and there is no obvious reason, then celiac disease should be ruled out as a cause.

Research into celiac disease and preterm deliveries

Online questionnaires were used to compile data from women who did not have celiac disease that was biopsy confirmed, and women who did have biopsy confirmed celiac disease.
The results lead the researchers to believe that celiac disease plays a large part in the early termination of pregnancies in women who suffer from it. Some of the women in the study who did not have confirmed cases of celiac disease may still have had the condition so further studies with a control group will be needed before definite conclusions can be made.

Miscarriages and celiac Disease

Women who have confirmed celiac disease are twice as likely to have a miscarriage as women who do not have the disease. One in four women with celiac disease will have a premature delivery. Only sixteen percent of women who do not have celiac will have a premature delivery.

Celiac Disease

Approximately one out of every one hundred people have celiac disease. This is an autoimmune disorder that causes damage in the small intestines. Celiac disease stops people from being able to absorb the nutrients in the food that they eat.
People with celiac disease cannot tolerate eating foods that contain gluten. Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, and wheat products, rye, and barley.

Diagnosing Celiac Disease

A simple blood test can diagnose the possibility of celiac disease. The blood test shows if there are antibodies present in the blood that has an adverse response to gluten. If the blood test confirms that the patient is likely to have celiac disease the doctor may also want to do a biopsy of some small intestine tissue to confirm the diagnosis.

Treatments for Celiac Disease

A gluten free diet will ease the symptoms of celiac disease, and will allow the person to absorb the nutrients they need to be healthy, and to carry a child to term.

Why Celiac causes miscarriages

There has not been enough research to prove why women with celiac disease are more apt to having a preterm pregnancy. The majority of miscarriages happen when the embryo has chromosome numbers out of the normal range.

The inability to absorb the proper nutrients while the embryo is developing may be the cause behind the increased number of miscarriages amongst celiac patients. It could also be that the woman’s body is not as healthy because of a nutritional imbalance.

More in depth research is needed to prove the correlation between celiac disease and preterm births. Doctors do advise that testing a woman who is having complications with carrying a child to term would be a sound idea. While celiac disease may not be the only cause for the miscarriages, it may play a part in them.