Who is Affected by Celiac Disease?

Featuring Dr. David Israel, BSc, MD, FRCPC, Gastroenterologist

Duration: 2 minutes

Celiac disease can affect children, adults of all ages.

Since the disease relates to diet and intake of threet grains, you have to be exposed before the disease can start. So usually one would suspect people and children from age one and a half to two years to 80 or 90. So this disease does relate to genetic inheritance and we know how to test for these genes.

The issue is that 30 percent of the Caucasian population would have the gene but only less than half a percent or about half a percent would get the disease. In addition, we know that some populations do not carry the gene and in general strokes, Asians don’t have the gene. And from India mostly the Punjabi people would have the gene but not the rest of the subcontinent.

So the main population that will be exposed or affected by the celiac disease would be the Caucasian population and the people from the Punjab and if they have concerns they should really discuss that with the family physician.