Friday, August 19, 2011

Girl Stuff

A recent study demonstrated increased rates of celiac disease in women who present with unexplained infertility. Among the 188 patients who completed testing, the prevalence of undiagnosed celiac disease was 2.1%. While this rate was not significantly higher than the expected 1.3%, the diagnosis of celiac disease in women with unexplained infertility was found to be significantly higher at 5.9% (3 of 51 women). Interestingly, all 4 patients found to have celiac disease conceived within a year of adopting a gluten-free diet. Though the study numbers are small, the findings suggest that, at least forsome women with infertility, dietary measures may help bolster fertility.
I bet those numbers would be higher if they tested for non-celiac gluten intolerance too...