Are Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease Linked?

There has been a global rise in the incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and celiac disease (CD), which often present in childhood. Up to 8% of people with T1D develop CD — a higher co-occurrence than expected in the general population.

Researchers followed a prospective birth cohort of 5891 infants (all of whom were known to be genetically at risk for developing T1D) for a median of 66 months. The infants were monitored periodically for the development of islet autoantibodies and T1D and tissue transglutaminase autoantibodies and CD.

Of the 457 children who screened positive for islet autoantibodies, 130 (28.5%) developed T1D; in children screening negative, only 8 of 5434 (0.15%) developed T1D. Similarly, of the 898 children who screened posi…