Celiac Disease And Infertility
Around 4-8% of women who were known to be infertile have also been diagnosed with celiac disease. Sometimes the reason for infertility in a woman cannot be explained and it is treated by following a diet which is gluten free. Some other studies have shown that infertility can also take place because the nutrients in the body are not getting absorbed properly and it can also be due to attaining puberty at a late age and early menopause.
A study was conducted to find out to what extent delayed puberty, amenorrhea – where the menstrual periods stop for short periods and early menopause are responsible for fertility. Women who had celiac disease and were following a gluten free diet were also included in this study. Women who were following a diet which contained gluten began their menstrual cycle more than a year after women who had celiac disease and were following a gluten free diet. 39% of women who did not follow a gluten free diet found that their periods were delayed for short time periods when compared to women who followed a gluten free diet. Women who were afflicted with celiac disease and did not follow a gluten free diet entered menopause four or five years earlier than other women.
Women who have been termed infertile have celiac disease related antibodies which is ten times more than what is found in normal people. Women who are infertile and also have celiac disease do not always have an iron, B12 and folate deficiency which means that other aspects of celiac disease could be responsible for their infertility.
Studies have also been conducted on pregnant women who have celiac disease and who follow a gluten free diet in order to find out the effect it has on the unborn child. 21% of women who did not follow a gluten free diet had a miscarriage and 16% of these women had a fetus which had growth restrictions. But some of these women were able to successfully carry the pregnancy to term.
In Denmark, a study was conducted on 211 infants and 127 mothers who had celiac disease. Women who followed a diet which contains gluten had babies which had a low birth weight. But women who followed a gluten free diet had babies which had better weight when compared to babies whose mothers had celiac disease. A study was also conducted to find out the effect of gluten on pregnancy and lactation. 17.8% of women who had celiac disease and did not follow a gluten free diet had a miscarriage and 2.4% of women who had celiac disease and followed a gluten free diet had a miscarriage. Women who had sub clinical and clinical problems did not face any difficulty when it came to fertility or pregnancy.
Women who had celiac disease and who have already had a baby once were also studied in order to know the effect of a gluten free diet on any future pregnancy. 35.6% of women could save their pregnancy and 24.9% of the women could have healthier babies and they could breast feed for two more months if they followed a gluten free diet. Hence we see how important a gluten free diet can be for the mother and the baby.
A study was conducted in United Kingdom which showed that women with celiac disease did not stand a high risk of infertility. This study was conducted on 1521 women who has celiac disease and compared with 7732 women who did not have celiac disease. 48.2 babies per thousand survived for women not having celiac disease while those having celiac disease had 47.7 live babies. But women having celiac disease had a lower fertility rate when they were young and a higher fertility rate when they were much older. This increase in fertility along with age did not have any relationship to gluten filled or a gluten free diet. But women having celiac disease had a greater chance of a miscarriage and having a baby through a cesarean section.