Question by Elizabeth: How can I control shortness of breath (asthma) with celiac disease?
I have celiac disease and also shortness of breath. The shortness of breath is also asthma. How do I control the shortness of breath with the celiac disease?
Best answer:
Answer by CJ
I am unaware of how your asthma is related to your celiac disease. Celiac disease is only controlled by a gluten-free diet. Asthma can be controlled by a number of oral or inhaled medications (like albuterol inhaled, or montelukast (Singulair) orally).
If you are taking asthma medications, see your doctor if your symptoms are not adequately controlled by the medications.
What do you think? Answer below!
Depending on my personal knowledge and experience if you remove casein and gluten from your diet and stress from your daily life you will get less asthma attacks!
For additional info:
The majority of articles suggest there is no link between celiac disease and asthma, while anecdotal evidence from celiacs suggests that their asthma increases dramatically after the ingestion of any gluten foods. For instance, an article by Dr Pradeep Bhandari (Ref 1) says that “Celiac disease and Asthma tend to run in families and the tendency to get these diseases is inherited genetically. However, they are not inter-linked. The tendency to get celiac disease is inherited genetically. It mostly affects people of European descent. It is also more common in families with Diabetes or rheumatoid Arthritis. Something in the environment is necessary to trigger the celiac disease in those who are susceptible. Asthma tends to run in families. A person with a parent who has Asthma is three to six times more likely to develop Asthma than someone who doesn’t have a parent with Asthma. But no single gene is responsible for Asthma. Instead, you may inherit a general predisposition to Asthma” Ref 1 However a 2005 study was performed on a population of 86 persons residing in the Maltese Islands in the Mediterranean Sea does suggest some correlation:
MALTESE RESEARCH 2005 (Ref 2: Ellul P, Vassallo M, Montefort S)
“Patients previously diagnosed to have CD (based on serological tests and duodenal biopsy) and attending a medical out-patient clinic answered a questionnaire designed to determine whether they had previously been diagnosed to have asthma or allergic rhinitis.” Ref 2 “All 86 patients (age range 16-69 [median 43] years; 65 female) answered the questionnaire about CD and asthma. They constituted 21% of the 409 patients with CD in the Maltese islands included in a register kept for controlling free prescription of gluten-free foods.” Ref 2 Of 86 respondents, 24 (27.8%; 21 female) had asthma, including 22 with known asthma and 2 with previously undiagnosed asthma; the frequency of asthma in CD patients was higher than that reported in the general Maltese population (11.1%; p<0.00005).[7] In addition, four non-asthmatic patients (one smoker, two ex-smokers, one non-smoker) reported wheezing in the absence of respiratory tract infection in the past; they however had normal pulmonary function tests.
In 16 patients, asthma preceded CD by 3 months to 39 years (median 20 years). Among these patients, g-free diet had led to improvement in asthma in 6 patients, possible improvement in 2 patients, and no change in 8 patients. In the remaining 8 patients, asthma followed CD by 2 to 14 years (median 8). Thirty-one of 86 patients with CD and 11 of 24 patients with CD and asthma gave family history of asthma among first-degree relatives. Eighty-two patients (62 female) answered the questionnaire about allergic rhinitis. Of these, 36 (44%) suffered from allergic rhinitis; this frequency was higher than that reported in the general Maltese population (32.3 %; p<0.05). They conclude that their findings suggest that asthma and allergic rhinitis are more common in CD patients than in the general population in Malta. In patients with atopic diseases, index of suspicion for CD should be high.
The above study clearly shows that asthma symptoms are more prevalent among those people who suffer from celiac disease. It looks like my pie story is gaining weight, all puns intended.
FINNISH study in 2001 (Ref 3: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology)
This study tested the postulate of whether TH1 and TH2 cells could co-exist. A correlation between these would suggest a correlation between celiac disease and asthma. "Background: Asthma is generally regarded as a disease with strong TH2-type cytokine expression, whereas in autoimmune disorders, such as celiac disease (CD), insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), TH1-type expression is seen. According to the cross-regulatory properties of TH1 and TH2 cells, one would assume that these diseases exist in different patient populations." Ref 3 "Objective: We sought to test the hypothesis that asthma could exist in children with TH1-type diseases, such as CD, IDDM, and RA. Methods: Comparison was made of the cumulative incidence of asthma in children with CD, IDDM, or RA by linking Finnish Medical Birth Register data on the whole 1987 birth cohort (n = 60,254 births) with the data of several national health registers to obtain information on the incidences of these diseases during the first 7 years of life." Ref 3 "Results: The cumulative incidence of asthma in children with CD (24.6%) or RA (10.0%) was significantly higher than in children without CD (3.4%) or RA (3.4%; P < .001 and P = .016, respectively). Asthma tended to be more common in children with IDDM than in children without IDDM. Conclusion: T These data indicate that
whats celiac disease? can you tell me more?
You have two different issues. Celiac disease and asthma. First of all for the celiac disease you have to completely avoid gluten from wheat, rye and barley and I would avoid oats too or at least make sure they are certified gluten free. Being gluten free will allow your intestines to heal and you will absorb nutrients better.
Now for the asthma you need to go to a pulmonologist and get a long term acting medicine as well as rescue inhaler for the asthma. I am on Advair for the long term– take two puffs twice a day and just have the albuterol but only use it a few times a year and I exercise walk and play tennis.
I also have celiac, so if you have more questions feel free to contact me through here.