Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Origin Of Celiacs?


C'smum

Recommended Posts

MJK Newbie

Hi:

I am Irish, scotish, english bag mix...born in Nova Scotia. I have not been diagnosed...because my doctor says why bother when we know..grrr. I went of diet for about a year thinking maybe it was in my head. about 3 weeks ago symptoms came back and now i reacted to may contain wheat products... I have been off gluten for about 1 week and starting to feel better...no migrains...etc.. I am going to get my boys checked and they are have a mixed bag and half chinese.

Mj

  • 2 weeks later...

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



  • Replies 97
  • Created
  • Last Reply
bigfoodogs Newbie

My origin is English and Irish. I know the Europeans know that we are all a mixed lot and they don't make the distinctions we do. On my dad's side we can trace back to the late 1400's in England. We are descend from the Peytons of Virginia. I am very curious about what causes the intolerance to Gluten. A long while back I read the "Eat Right For Your Type(blood type)" book by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo. The book talks about what types of foods we have eaten though out our origins. I am blood type O and the book rang true for me for things I should and should not eat. Some of the things I liked but should avoid I eventually had to give up. Some things that I naturally avoided were on the avoid list. I shared the book with a co-worker and he gave up dairy in favor of soy and solved his head congestion and constant sinus issues. He was not blood type O.

Has something changed in the production or process of wheat. My husband is a ole farm boy he said we used to grow the old traditional wheat from Europe. We planted this in the spring and harvested it in late August netting only one crop for the land in a year. Now we grow Russian wheat (winter what) because it can planted in the fall and harvested early and then we can get a second crop in the ground. Does this wheat have something different in it that our systems can not process? :unsure:

I know a lot is not known about the why part of this condition but I am interested in exploring the common threads we share to help determine the why part of the gluten intolerance and Celiac disease.

Thank you for this forum - I am new to this and I am learning a lot.

CCM Rookie
Has something changed in the production or process of wheat. My husband is a ole farm boy he said we used to grow the old traditional wheat from Europe. We planted this in the spring and harvested it in late August netting only one crop for the land in a year. Now we grow Russian wheat (winter what) because it can planted in the fall and harvested early and then we can get a second crop in the ground. Does this wheat have something different in it that our systems can not process? :unsure:

I am wondering something similar related to changes in crop production, whether genetically modified seeds or agricultural pesticides/herbicides are playing any role in people's conditions. I just don't understand why so many of have not only a gluten intolerance but multiple food sensitivities. Or why kids who used to outgrow their allergies are no longer doing so...

Btw, Irish/Scottish one one side and Italian/German/Ukrainian on the other.

itchygirl Newbie

I just posted a link to an article on celiac in India. I think its everywhere it just isn't diagnosed. They used to say celiac in the US was a disease of upper middle class white women because they were the ones who could afford all the testing...

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

gfp Enthusiast
I reside in Ontario but grew up with my family in England.My family believed themselves to be true English.Recently we found out that we are of Irish decent through my fathers side the same side that has passed on Celiacs to me.There is some belief that Celiacs originate from Ireland.Whats your background?

Please consider this to be a bit of fun.

As you yourself mentioned ....your family considered themselves to be of English blood .... but there is no such thing. Nor Irish nor any other racial group (except Icelandic and perhaps a few very weird tribes like Kalahari Bushmen).

Almost all racial groups are mixed through centuries of rape, infidelity and people simply wishing to change their name because of discrimination. My Maternal great grandfaher was one of them ...

From random screening 1:25 presumed fathers is not the biological father of the child they presume is theirs. (And this is with today's access to birth control), in the past without birth control one can only assume this to be higher. This is random testing .. amongst those asking for paternity tests the number is 1:7

This isn't such a big secret .... but its something Americans tend to fixate on (in my experience) due to their status of being almost completely an immigrant nation so I guess everyone wants to come from somewhere. Its also fun that 'English' means little if you were conceived in England in the 1940's ... close to an American base.

If you go to Ireland and do genetics studies its soon apparent that there is a huge influence of 'English' blood through systematic rape under occupation. There is a lot of Spanish blood in the south due to many Spanards being washed ashore in the Armada. There is a huge amount of Viking blood following 400 years of rape and pillage ... etc. etc.

... and of course Ireland wasn't uninhabited before the Celts ...

So its a bit of fun but for some reason many DR's and researchers like to jump on this .. which I feel completely misses the point.

The reason I am a bit against this is some people on this board have been told point blank by their Dr. they don't have celiac disease because they are from a particular racial group .. the Dr. hasn't even tested.

ISGoddess Newbie

An Irish friend of mine (who immigrated to the U.S. about 5 years ago) says that in Ireland they attribute the increase in celiac disease to the potato famine. Something along the lines of if you had what it took to survive the famine you were more apt to have celiac disease. She said some people think that genes mutated because of what people ate during it.

I'd love to research this more -- I'm not sure if her comments are based on folk wisdom, urban legend or medical research.

itchygirl Newbie
Something along the lines of if you had what it took to survive the famine you were more apt to have celiac disease. She said some people think that genes mutated because of what people ate during it.

.

One of the primary causes of death during the famine (besides starvation) was Typhus. If celiac makes us immune to typhus that would be really cool! B) Sort of like sickle cell and malaria? I can't find anything on that online, if you find out anything do post.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



  • 1 month later...
NLpacker-fan Newbie

i'm an american living in holland, but my heritage is 95% irish with 5% welsh thrown in, so it fits me.

janel

I reside in Ontario but grew up with my family in England.My family believed themselves to be true English.Recently we found out that we are of Irish decent through my fathers side the same side that has passed on Celiacs to me.There is some belief that Celiacs originate from Ireland.Whats your background?
Death-Cab-Doll Newbie

Italian, Greek, Native American, English... I'm a mutt.

Aleshia Contributor

I'm a bit of everything.... italian, french, english, irish, scottish, native american, norwegian, german, spanish... who knows what else...

Kat'sMommy Newbie

Had to chime in here, this facinates me!

I am half German (actually Prussian) by decent, but that part is evened out with European Mix! Especially Scotch Irish and English Peerage/court (going back to 1500's). With a good does of Cheerokee. I look German! :rolleyes:

My husband is primarily Scotish (but near as I can tell, probably english blood) and Cheerokee and looks more Native American.

My girls, including the one offically diagnosed, definitely look more Native American. B) They don't look blue when it gets cold! Pigment is a good thing.

Looking back through the last generation, my family shows signs of gluten intolerance and various auto immune diseases, but so does his.

Until genetic testing is more affordable we may never know, but someday maybe I will track it all. Someday after Homeschooling and gluten-free cooking, and all the day to day of raising Celiac Kids is past. For now I will just enjoy learning from all of you!

Blessings, Christine :D

jayhawkmom Enthusiast

Swedish and German here!! It's believed that there is a trace of Irish on my maternal side, but I've yet to find it. I have, however, found evidence of Scottish ancestry.

I too am a "fair skinned gal" with green eyes, and dark red hair.

All 3 of my kids are incredibly fair skinned. Both boys also have my green eyes, with brown hair. My daughter is a tow-headed blond. The sun is not our friend.

I too was at the Stanford Celiac conference and I felt right at home under all the shade umbrellas in the courtyard where lunch was served. LOL!!!!!!

Aleshia Contributor
There's a lot said about introducing babies to 'wheat' too early (ie. before 6 months)

.

Mothers unknowingly giving their babies their first taste of 'Gluten'

by either blending regular food for baby without realising that the 'gravy or sauce'

may have used 'wheat' flour to thicken it, or maybe when they are 'teething' giving them

a 'Crust ' of bread to chew on?.

Let's face it most people on this forum have Celiac, it's not going to go away,

so we have to do the best we can and every little bit of help and comfort goes a long way!

.

I'm kinda getting off-topic here so I leave it at that.

.

Best Regards,

David

the celiac disease center in new york sent me a PDF file about a study done on that issue, they said there didn't seem to be any evidence to support that but that breastfeeding made the onset of celiac disease come on about 2 years after the onset in non breastfed babies and that children who were breastfed had atypical symptoms (not diarhea and weight loss and they were usually taller also) I've been thinking about that in my own children because they are all tall for their age and for the most part a-symptomatic... I also was breastfed for my first 2 years of life and I have a huge number of symptoms but none of them are the classic diarrhea and weightloss... anyway I don't think mother's should be made to feel guilty about what they are giving their children when it has little or no effect on the outcome later in life.

Aleshia Contributor
Pretty much true.... however Americans always seem to think there is such a thing as Irish or German etc. when most Europeans realise they are all mixed up.

Its funny for us Eurpeans to think that someone with blond hair and blue eyes from Lombardy is genetically closer to someone with very dark skin and afro hair from Sicily... not to mention Italy didn't exist as a country until Garibaldi in 1878... or that a Hindi family living in Rome (perhaps for over 2000 yrs) are somehow closer than a Austrian to some Italian genotype???

northern italians are actually anglo-saxons (milan area) and aren't genetically the same as southern italians in a lot of ways... from what I have studied anyway

Crimson Rookie

Another ginger here.

I'm Irish and English (from my Mums side)

Black Foot American Indian and Oriental (from my father's side)

Interesting mix, IMHO.

My younger sister shows all the signs and symptoms of Celiac.

I'm trying to convince her to get some testing done.

She is also red haired. As is our mother.

My daughter is my mix along with Indian and Italian from her father.

She is not a red. Though she does seem sensitive to gluten.

I notice a personality difference in her when she's eaten it.

ThatlldoGyp Rookie

English/Welch my mom's side,German, French, Native American heritage my pops side.

  • 4 weeks later...
katebuggie28 Apprentice

My maternial side is from kiev russia, and my paternal side has some irish, german and indian (blackfoot)

katebuggie28 Apprentice

one other note.... My materinal side have all lived into their late 80's-late 90's (russian) my fathers side (irish, american indian and german) have all died at an early age (mid 40's-early 60's) My father is 50 or 51? and in POOR health. Both sides of my family had/have an issue with alcoholism.

katebuggie28 Apprentice
I am thinking that it doesn't really matter where you come from anymore. I think it may be more prevalent in certain areas, but is being found in outer areas too. I read celiac is now found in some of the areas where we supply rice and flours to those who do not normally have these foods and now they are developing the disease too. I think at first we thought it was more Irish and Greeks maybe, only because they are the leaders in finding the disease. The United States was way behind other countries in diagnosing celiac disease.

When my group, the Suffolk County Celiac Support Group, from Long Island, NY, had their vendor fair, the largest vendor fair ever held anywhere, there were people there from all walks of life. I talked to so many different nationalities, I was so surprised. We come from everywhere, we are all colors, we speak all languages, we are all heights, we have all different hair colors, long hair, short hair, bald, we are in wheelchairs, some of us are very young, some are very old, and everywhere inbetween.

My background is German, English, American, and maybe some Irish. My mom is a hot tempered redhead!!!

We all have gluten in common. We want it out of our lives. Whether we are celiac, gluten intolerant, or gluten sensititive, we want gluten freedom.

I agree. I think it is no longer an issue with where your family is from. The fact of the matter is that our food suppliers are poisioning us! Too many hormones, too many fillers, too many additives etc... Our Government is allowing this to happen. (We should start a new post.) Let me ask everyone here a question (30 and older) When you were growing up did you kow anyone that had cancer? If you did wasn't it a BIG deal? How many people do you know that have it or have had it now? Big difference right? How many new diseases and ailments have you read about/heard about? It's our food and the toxic chemicals that we use everyday.The US is now poisioning other countries. I will say this to all of you that may say something negative to what I posted: I have only been gluten-free for 6 days. I was never worried about what I ate etc... although I did try to eat somewhat healthier foods. I was aware of some of the chemicals in my food, but I had no idea the affects that it had until this happened to me. The population isn't educated enough. I know that I wasn't. I just rolled with "the times." I figured I would probably die of a heart realted disease,but I just didn't GEt how bad all of this stuff was. I had never even heard of celiac disease even through my medical training. We now have tons of cancer, autism, thyroid diseases, ADHD, ADD, OCD, RLS, celiac disease, Chronic Fatigue (not spelled right lol) IBS, Addisons, Parkinsons, allergies, COPD, mad cow disease, avian flu, SARS, AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis through the roof (and a new addition to it every 5 years or so), drug addiction, seziures, depression, ulcers, diabetes is skyrocketing, we have CFS oh my goodness I could go on forever. The sad part is this: there is no cure for most of these. It is sad. Please educate people about what they are putting into their bodies and allowing their children to eat. It's scary. We have done this to ourselves unknowingly. I know that I also did it to my children unknowingly and that hurts me. I always bought what was cheap because of funds, but when I look back I could've done better. We ate out a lot. I could've bought healthier foods instead of eating out, and probably had money left over. I know I am devestated by celiac disease, and the affects it has had on my family. I am ranting in the wrong place, I'm sorry. :) My point is that no one is "safe" anymore. I'm sure at one time there was a link, but it would be impossible to track now due to US food CC.

debmidge Rising Star
I agree. I think it is no longer an issue with where your family is from. The fact of the matter is that our food suppliers are poisioning us! Too many hormones, too many fillers, too many additives etc... Our Government is allowing this to happen. (We should start a new post.) Let me ask everyone here a question (30 and older) When you were growing up did you kow anyone that had cancer? If you did wasn't it a BIG deal? How many people do you know that have it or have had it now? Big difference right? How many new diseases and ailments have you read about/heard about? It's our food and the toxic chemicals that we use everyday.The US is now poisioning other countries. I will say this to all of you that may say something negative to what I posted: I have only been gluten-free for 6 days. I was never worried about what I ate etc... although I did try to eat somewhat healthier foods. I was aware of some of the chemicals in my food, but I had no idea the affects that it had until this happened to me. The population isn't educated enough. I know that I wasn't. I just rolled with "the times." I figured I would probably die of a heart realted disease,but I just didn't GEt how bad all of this stuff was. I had never even heard of celiac disease even through my medical training. We now have tons of cancer, autism, thyroid diseases, ADHD, ADD, OCD, RLS, celiac disease, Chronic Fatigue (not spelled right lol) IBS, Addisons, Parkinsons, allergies, COPD, mad cow disease, avian flu, SARS, AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis through the roof (and a new addition to it every 5 years or so), drug addiction, seziures, depression, ulcers, diabetes is skyrocketing, we have CFS oh my goodness I could go on forever. The sad part is this: there is no cure for most of these. It is sad. Please educate people about what they are putting into their bodies and allowing their children to eat. It's scary. We have done this to ourselves unknowingly. I know that I also did it to my children unknowingly and that hurts me. I always bought what was cheap because of funds, but when I look back I could've done better. We ate out a lot. I could've bought healthier foods instead of eating out, and probably had money left over. I know I am devestated by celiac disease, and the affects it has had on my family. I am ranting in the wrong place, I'm sorry. :) My point is that no one is "safe" anymore. I'm sure at one time there was a link, but it would be impossible to track now due to US food CC.

When I was a kid in the sixities my best friend's grandmother died of breast cancer and a relative had lung cancer. There was no "chemo" in those days either like there is today. Yes, it was a big deal as it was a certain death sentence. I also feel that before our current level of medications for heart disease and our current diagnositic equipment people from my childhood and earlier died from heart disease first (before cancer could be diagnosed or start). My great grand mother in the 1960's was about 62 years old and she died from a heart attack - her husband lived to be 89 and was in great health overall until he died (I don't know what he passed from as his daughter kept it a secret). He ate hardly any meat, lots of salads with olive oil/vinegar and vegetables, corn breads, regular breads, hardly any sweets, pastas w/sauce. He was amazingly healthy and had all his original teeth. I remember him as I was in my twenties when he died and he lived in an apartment beneath us all my life. He never touched Wonder bread or cold cuts; he did drink wine and anisette liquor from time to time.

Our modern diet is hurting us - I'd agree with that.

What do you mean when you state that the US is "poisoning other countries?" Do you mean that food manufacturers (not the govt) are making less nutritious foods for exportation? I am not sure what you mean.

Calicoe Rookie

I am adopted, and mixed on both the biological and adopted side. My biological mix is Polish/Hungarian on my mother's side, and Arawak Indian/Asian/black/Dutch on my biological father's side. He resembled Colin Powell. So, yes, I am a real hodge-podge. I can't tell from which side I inherited possible celiac disease, because my father's side had what sounds like schizophrenia, hypothyroidism, heart problems, diabetes, breast cancer and possible manic depression. I heard that he also didn't like dairy.

My biological mother is fit as a fiddle at 80 years of age, has only recently had joint pain, but has a sister with a history of migraines who has just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Go figure.

  • 1 month later...
RoseTapper Newbie

I'm Swedish, Danish, Irish, Scottish, and English; however, my celiac probably came from my Danish great-grandfather. He and ALL four of his brothers died of digestive cancers, and my grandmother had symptoms of celiac her whole life. My mother, her brother, my son and daughter, and I all have celiac, and I think we owe it all to the Danes (and, of course, celiac is very common in Denmark).

Mickide Apprentice

I am half Irish and 1/4 scottish, 1/4 english.. The celiacs is from my moms side, she is 100% Irish.. this is a really interesting topic!

  • 2 weeks later...
cymrudenver Apprentice

I'm Welsh, moved to the USA 7 yrs ago. My parents and their parents are English.

  • 2 weeks later...
kimetime Newbie

A few years ago when my digestive issues were so severe that I finally went to the gastro, one of the resident's first questions was about my heritage. (University of Pittsburgh Physicians/ teaching and reseach facilitiy) She said that they find most people with the disease are descended from Northern Europe and also Italy. Being in Pittsburgh, you find many people of Italian, German, Polish, and Slovakian descent. . .and it's not extremely rare to find someone here who restricts their gluten intake.

I myself am mostly German, (Southern) Italian, and Czech/Slovak.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      126,814
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    judy regina
    Newest Member
    judy regina
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.9k
    • Total Posts
      69.7k

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      Yes, there is a trend in the medical community to forego the endoscopy/biopsy and grant an official celiac diagnosis based on high tTG-IGA antibody scores alone. This trend started in the UK and is spreading to the USA medical community. And yes, 5-10x the normal level is what I have been seeing as the threshold as well. Here is the relevant section dealing from the article above dealing with the importance of the total IGA test being ordered. See the embedded attachment.
    • hmkr
      Ok, interesting. Not what I was thinking that meant. I'm reading the article and trying to understand. I see this “According to the latest research, if the blood test results are at certain high levels that range between 5-10 times the reference range for a positive celiac disease diagnosis, it may not be necessary to confirm the results using an endoscopy/biopsy” My IgG is 90, which is 6 times. So to me that means it's highly likely I do have it. 
    • trents
      It just means you aren't IGA deficient, i.e., that IGA deficiency cannot have given you artificially low scores in the individual IGA celiac antibody tests. This is explained in the article Scott linked above.
    • hmkr
      Normal range: 70 - 400 mg/dL, a little above middle of the range. So what does that mean? Thank you! I will check out that page you linked. Appreciate it! 
    • trents
      Well, the only thing I would conclude with would be, if you choose not to trial the gluten free diet, is to encourage you to get periodically tested, either antibody blood tests or the biopsy or both. I think it something that needs to be monitored.
×
×
  • Create New...