Gluten-intolerant coeliacs at higher risk of heart disease, Oxford University scientists find

Suffering a common bowel condition could make you more likely to develop heart disease, research suggests.

Coeliac disease, which affects about one in 100 Britons, causes damage to the gut when the body overreacts to gluten – a protein in bread – triggering diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloating.

But scientists at the University of Oxford have now found that coeliacs have a higher risk of heart trouble that increases the longer they have had the condition.

While previous studies had also identified a link between coeliac disease and an increased risk of suffering heart conditions, researchers believed this was due to patients having other risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.

The authors of the new research say that their findings suggest otherwise.

Using hospital data to analyse health outcomes in nearly 470,000 Britons aged 40 to 69 over the course of four years, they found cardiovascular problems – such as heart disease and heart attacks – happened every year in nine out of every 1,000 coeliac sufferers, compared with roughly seven out of every 1,000 who didn’t have the disease.

They said the risk remained the same even if the patients were a healthy weight with no other problems that might impact cardiovascular health.

Coeliac disease, known as an autoimmune condition, happens when, for reasons not fully understood, the body’s immune system mistakes substances found in gluten as a threat and attacks them, damaging gut tissue. This causes ulcers and inflammation.

Patients have to avoid eating anything containing gluten – such as bread, pasta, many cereals and ready-made foods made with flour. Many need to take medication to control flare-ups.

Coeliac disease, which affects about one in 100 Britons, causes damage to the gut when the body overreacts to gluten – a protein in bread – triggering diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloating (stock photo)

Scientists at the University of Oxford (pictured) suggest a fault with the immune system may be behind the link, as several other autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, are also related to an increased risk of heart attack

The scientists suggest a fault with the immune system may be behind the link, as several other autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, are also related to an increased risk of heart attack.

However, they say that more research is needed before they can suggest a definitive explanation for their findings.

Writing in the journal BMJ Medicine, they advise clinicians to ‘make patients aware of their elevated risk and work with them to optimise their heart health’.