by Jana Čarnohorski, Croatia/Ireland
Have you ever wondered how old is coeliac disease?
In a society where gluten-free diet seems like a trend, it is easy to think coeliac is plague of modern society. In that case, you’d be surprised to find out coeliac is believed to be, in fact, as old as agriculture itself!
The earliest forms of agriculture date back to the Neolithic period, about 10 000 years ago, when humans first started cultivating grains. Although it is speculated that coeliac disease emerged in this period due to the dramatic switch in diet [1], the earliest archeological finding related to coeliac disease dates back only to 1st century AD. In 2008, archeologists in Cosa (Italy) discovered remains of a young woman with signs of malnutrition, damages usually correlated with coeliac and, most significantly, presence of coeliac gene HLA-DQ2.5 [2].
The story continues to 2nd century, when a Greek physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia gives the first clinical description of coeliac disease, as malabsorptive disease with diarrhea affecting children. He even names the disease “koiliakós” after the Greek word for ‘abdomen’. [1]
Years go by until 1888, when dr. Samuel Gee, a doctor in a children hospital, gives the first modern medical description of the disease. [3] Although he could not pinpoint the trigger of the disease, he also hypothesized the disease can be cured through a diet. It wasn’t until 1924 that coeliac’s condition was significantly improved by dr. Sydney Haas and his “banana diet”. [2]
And who knows how the coeliacs would only be fed bananas if it wasn’t for dr. Willem Dicke who made the ultimate between coeliac and gluten. During World War II and the Dutch famine, dr. Dicke recognized how coeliac children benefited from lack of bread and wheat in their diet. [1,3]
Finally, the search for explanation concludes in 1956 with dr. Margot Shiner who performed the very first intestine biopsy on a child and was therefore able to successfully diagnose coeliac disease. As medicine progressed in the following years, scientist were able to identify the gene responsible for coeliac and make connections with other autoimmune disease until it was finally accepted as one in 1990s. [2]
And there you have it! Although our “road to discovery” was long and curvy, it is interesting to see how coeliac has been in the shadows of society for as long as it exists. Hopefully, our story does not end here but continues in research which will help up find out more about this disease!
Sources
[1] Freeman, Hugh J. “Celiac Disease: A Disorder Emerging from Antiquity, Its Evolving Classification and Risk, and Potential New Treatment Paradigms.” Gut and Liver, vol. 9, no. 1, 15 Jan. 2015, pp. 28–37, https://doi.org/10.5009/gnl14288.
[2] Beyond Celiac Org. “History of Celiac Disease.” Beyond Celiac, 2023, www.beyondceliac.org/celiac-disease/celiac-history/.
[3] UCLA Health. “History of Celiac Disease – Celiac Disease | UCLA Health.” Www.uclahealth.org, www.uclahealth.org/medical-services/gastro/celiac-disease/patient-resources/history-celiac-disease.