On August 10, a new study, Probiotic Use in Celiac Disease: Results from a National Survey, was published in the Journal of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases. Researchers found that roughly one-third of celiac patients reported using probiotics for perceived health benefits, despite the lack of evidence that probiotics are an effective treatment for celiac disease symptoms. Patients diagnosed later in life were more likely to use probiotics and those who remained symptomatic despite a gluten-free diet were twice as likely to take probiotics.
This study was conducted by analyzing data from the Celiac Disease Foundation’s iCureCeliac® patient registry, the nation’s largest celiac disease patient registry, and was led by Andrew Joelson, MD, along with Marilyn Geller, Celiac Disease Foundation CEO, and Benjamin Lebwohl, MD.
Researchers looked at 1,160 iCureCeliac® patient responses to a question regarding probiotic use. They concluded that patients may be seeking additional means of treatment for persistent symptoms. Yet more evidence of the failure of a gluten-free diet to adequately control symptoms.
Would you like to participate in celiac disease research? Join the thousands of others in the iCureCeliac patient registry who are providing critical insights into life with celiac disease. Your participation will help create better diagnostic tools and treatments, governmental policy changes, and access to new and innovative clinical trials nationwide, which may, one day, cure celiac disease.
Join iCureCeliac here.