Resources for medical professionals
Learn more about symptoms and testing for celiac disease.
Understanding Celiac Disease >
Resources for medical professionals
Learn more about symptoms and testing for celiac disease.
Understanding Celiac Disease >
How Common Is
Celiac Disease?
Celiac disease is one of the most common medical conditions, affecting around 1 in every 100 people. It’s an autoimmune disorder that often develops during early childhood, but can occur at any age.1
On average, it takes 10 to 13 years from onset of symptoms for a person to be diagnosed with celiac disease. This lengthy delay means that celiac disease is often only recognized in adulthood.2,3
If left untreated, celiac disease can cause:
Other long-term medical conditions.1,4
Reduced quality of life2
Reduced life-expectancy1
Other long-term medical conditions.1,4
Reduced quality of life2
Reduced life-expectancy1
How likely am I to have celiac disease?
Many people don’t realize how common celiac disease really is, as about three quarters of people who have the condition are not yet formally diagnosed.1,5
Celiac disease often runs in families;6 if someone in your family has it, talk to your healthcare provider to see if you or any other family members should be tested.
Your risk of celiac disease may also be higher than that of the general population if you have symptoms of celiac disease,7 or certain pre-existing medical conditions.8-10
of people with celiac disease do not know that they have the condition.1,5
Find out more about your risk of having celiac disease
Select an option to see how the risk of celiac disease changes.
(no specific risk-factors)
(no specific risk-factors)
If more than one of these options applies to you, you may be even more likely to be at risk of having celiac disease. If you think you may have it, visit your healthcare provider and ask to be tested.
1. Gujral N, Freeman H J, Thomson A B. Celiac disease: prevalence, diagnosis, pathogenesis and treatment. World J Gastroenterol 2012;18(42):6036-6059
2. Gray A M, Papanicolas I N. Impact of symptoms on quality of life before and after diagnosis of coeliac disease: results from a UK population survey. BMC Health Serv Res 2010;10:105
3. Norström F, Lindholm L et al. Delay to celiac disease diagnosis and its implications for health-related quality of life. BMC Gastroenterology 2011;11(1):118
4. Leffler D A, Green P H, Fasano A. Extraintestinal manifestations of coeliac disease. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2015;12(10):561-571
5. West J, Fleming K M et al. Incidence and prevalence of celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis in the UK over two decades: population-based study. Am J Gastroenterol 2014;109(5):757-768
6. Singh P, Arora S et al. Risk of celiac disease in the first- and second-degree relatives of patients with celiac disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Gastroenterol 2015;110(11):1539-1548
7. Fasano A, Berti I et al. Prevalence of celiac disease in at-risk and not-at-risk groups in the United States: a large multicenter study. Arch Intern Med 2003;163(3):286-292
8. Du Y, Shan L F et al. Prevalence of celiac disease in patients with Down syndrome: a meta-analysis. Oncotarget 2018;9(4):5387-5396
9. Bonamico M, Pasquino A M et al. Prevalence and clinical picture of celiac disease in Turner syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2002;87(12):5495-5498
10. Giannotti A, Tiberio G et al. Coeliac disease in Williams syndrome. J Med Genet 2001;38(11):767-768
11. El-Salhy M, Hatlebakk J G et al. The relation between celiac disease, nonceliac gluten sensitivity and irritable bowel syndrome. Nutr J 2015;14:92
12. Shah S, Leffler D. Celiac disease: an underappreciated issue in women's health. Womens Health (Lond) 2010;6(5):753-766
13. Al-Toma A, Volta U et al. European Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease (ESsCD) guideline for coeliac disease and other gluten-related disorders. United European Gastroenterol J 2019;7(5):583-613
