We all know the importance of a healthy lifestyle. However new research presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 63rd Annual Scientific Session provides an additional reason for readers with coeliac disease. A study looking at the link between coeliac disease and coronary artery disease found that people with coeliac disease could have almost double the risk of coronary artery disease when compared with the rest of the population.
“People with coeliac disease have some persistent low-grade inflammation in the gut that can spill immune mediators into the bloodstream, which can then accelerate the process of atherosclerosis and, in turn, coronary artery disease,” explains Dr R.D. Gajulapalli, a co-investigator of the study. For those with coeliac disease and other inflammatory diseases, Dr Gajulapalli recommends a healthy lifestyle and an awareness of traditional cardiovascular risk factors including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Coeliac Disease and Your Heart first appeared in Issue 2 of Australian Gluten-Free Life as Coeliac Disease and Coronaary Artery Disease
