Menopause and gluten

Celiac disease, which occurs when the body can not tolerate a protein called gluten found in products containing wheat, barley and rye, often causes gastrointestinal upheavals and abdominal pain. However, the disease can also cause serious nutritional deficiencies that have a powerful effect on the rest of your body, including your hormones. Because of this, women with celiac disease suffer from early menopause more often. They also suffer from related infertility. If you have celiac disease, you can protect yourself against early menopause with a strict gluten-free diet. At present, the gluten-free diet represents the only treatment available for celiac disease.

Incidence

About one in 100 Americans has celiac disease, and the disease disproportionately affects women. However, because people with this condition may not notice the symptoms for years, most of those people do not know they have it. When you have celiac disease, consumption of grains that contain gluten causes a reaction of the immune system that destroys the lining of your small intestine. Your intestinal lining helps absorb nutrients from food, and once it is destroyed, you often become malnourished. Because your reproductive system relies on vitamins and other nutrients to function, it often can not function properly in people with celiac disease. In many cases, women with undiagnosed celiac disease have amenorrhea, or lack of menstrual period. This can lead to early menopause.

Menopause

Menopause (when you stop having menstrual periods and lose the ability to have children) usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, with a mean age of 51 years. When you enter menopause, the production of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone in your body decreases dramatically, and the ovaries stop producing monthly ovules. Women with celiac disease suffer from precocious menopause, which occurs before age 40, more often than other women, especially if they continue to consume gluten. Even if you do not go into menopause before age 40, your periods end earlier, on average, than those of non-celiac women.

Investigation

In a study published in 2010 in the medical journal "BMC Gastroenterology" researchers observed reproductive life disorders in 62 Italian women with celiac disease, including the age of menopause compared to control subjects. Two-thirds of women reported menstrual cycle disorders, and many said they had experienced those menstrual problems before the onset of gastrointestinal symptoms. In addition, many reported experiencing menopause at an earlier age than the control group.

Considerations

In many cases, the disorders of the menstrual cycle are corrected only once you receive a diagnosis of celiac disease and begin the gluten-free diet. In addition, following a gluten-free diet can help protect you from early menopause. If you have already gone through menopause, it is possible, but unlikely to start menstruating again once the diagnosis is made and stop consuming gluten. In all cases, however, you have to adhere to a strict diet, cheating, even occasionally, causes inflammation and damage to your small intestine, which can lead to continued nutritional deficiencies and put you at risk for additional medical problems, including Osteoporosis.