Higher Doses of Thyroid Hormone May Indicate Undiagnosed Celiac Disease

A diagnosis of one autoimmune disease, such as Celiac Disease, may indicate the presence of another autoimmune condition such as Diabetes Type 1 or Thyroiditis.  It can also work the other way around. When someone is diagnosed with Thyroid disease, Celiac Disease may be present also.

  In fact, according to a recent Italian study, if thyroid disease requires larger than the usual dose of thyroid hormone, it may be a clue to undiagnosed Celiac Disease in that same individual.

 Researchers at the Univ. of Sapienza in Rome followed two groups of patients. One group had known Celiac Disease and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.  The other group had the thyroid disorder but no CD.  The group without CD reached normal target levels of thyroid hormone with the usual dose of medication.  Of the Celiac group only one individual reached normal levels at the usual dose of medication. The researchers then focused only on the Celiac group. Some were put on a gluten-free diet. Some followed their regular diet. The group that followed the gluten-free diet were able to achieve normal levels of thyroid hormone similar to the non-Celiac group.  The group not on the gluten-free diet took significantly higher doses of thyroid medication in order to reach normal levels.  Malabsorption of the thyroid medication was proposed as the culprit. They concluded that the need for higher than normal levels of thyroid medication may indicate undiagnosed Celiac Disease.