A rise in celiac disease
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Celiac disease is one of the most common causes of chronic inflammation of the digestive system. It’s triggered by gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, and myriad foods made with these grains. But because its classic symptoms of abdominal pain and weight loss resemble many other conditions, celiac disease is often unrecognized and untreated, although health specialists believe it is becoming more prevalent.
Dr. Alberto Rubio-Tapia and his colleagues from the Mayo Clinic looked back more than 50 years, hoping to determine whether celiac disease has become more common. To do that, they tested blood both old and new.
The researchers evaluated blood samples drawn from more than 9,000 healthy adults in Wyoming and stored since 1954. They wanted to know how those samples would compare with blood taken from 12,000 adults currently living in Minnesota.
By looking at the decades-old blood, they found undiagnosed celiac disease in 1 in 652 people. They also discovered that the people with undiagnosed celiac disease were substantially more likely to have died at a younger age.
But they found that the condition was strikingly more prevalent in people alive today, ranging from 1 in 121 among older people to 1 in 106 among younger study participants.
The authors speculate that changes in the environment - from how wheat is grown and processed to changing patterns of early childhood infection - may be responsible for the rising number of cases.
BOTTOM LINE: Celiac disease is more than four times more common today than 50 years ago.
CAUTIONS: Celiac disease was not confirmed by intestinal biopsy, considered more conclusive than a blood test, and the small number of cases means survival estimates should be considered with caution.
WHAT’S NEXT: Scientists don’t know if treatment improves survival in patients who have celiac disease but don’t have symptoms.
WHERE TO FIND IT: Gastroenterology, July
Gender, stress, and risk
Men and women have different appetites for risk, research has shown. Women are more likely than men to park the lion’s share of their wealth in safe investments, for example. A new study shows that the gap between taking a risk and playing it safe grows larger when men and women have to make decisions under pressure.Nichole R. Lighthall and other researchers from the University of Southern California asked 45 men and women to participate in a study that resembled an episode of a high-rollers game show.
For the study to work, the scientists needed to boost stress in half of the participants while keeping it relatively constant in the other half. They did that by asking half of the participants to dunk one hand in icy cold water - that’s the half in whom stress was induced - while the other study participants submerged one hand in room-temperature water.
The participants then played a computer game that allowed them to inflate a computer-generated balloon. With every click, they earned cash - but they also gambled that an extra click would burst the balloon, causing them to forfeit all their gains. They could choose to cash out at any point, so more pumps meant more risk.
Being under stress made men much more prone to risk-taking: Men in the ice-water stress group inflated the balloon an average of 48 times, while for women in the stress group, the average was 32 times.
BOTTOM LINE: Under stress, men are more likely to take risks. But stress seems to have the opposite effect on women.
CAUTION: The study did not deal with different kinds of stress, such as threats of pain or anxiety about public speaking.
WHAT’S NEXT: Future research might use brain imaging to explore different responses to stress.
WHERE TO FIND IT: PLoS One, July 1
ELIZABETH COONEY 
