Does anyone know of any proven links between coeliac disease and dyslexia?

[Regalbirdy]

If so can you tell me more? (and maybe tell me who did the research if you know of it).

I am trying to figure out if my educational experiences are/were entirely due to brain fog or if I have something else going on. I know I have anxiety issues linked to depression (which so doesn't help!). However I ask because my mental health worker mentioned the possibility of dyslexia when I spoke to him .

If anyone knows of anything interesting I would be very grateful.

[Penel]

Hi Regalbirdy

I am very interested in this subject. I have taught dyslexic students for many years, and my daughter and husband are dyslexic...but I am the coeliac. I have only ever come across one coeliac student in my teaching career, but of course we know how under diagnosed it is. I came across more who had problems with dairy.

I have had a look around the web but have only found a few mentions of small scale investigations. Unfortunately the science sites were not easily accessible. A lot of dyslexics have problems with lateralisation and this does appear to be associated with an increase in immune disorders.

I'm sorry to hear that you are having anxiety issues. Dyslexics seem to have a higher than average chance of mental problems, I don't know if this is stress related or something else.

I will keep looking to see if I can find anything definite.

You could perhaps go over to the Dyslexia forum on Health Unlocked and ask there?

[Penel]

Hi again. Realised I just needed to go to the PubMed website for the summaries. You can see related researches in the right hand column.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/968...

[Regalbirdy]

Hi Penel,

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure if I am a dyslexic but I think I have some of the lesser traits - such as sometimes transposing letters when handwriting if I don't concentrate. Btw, reading is not an issue. However I'm now wondering whether to put myself forward for a dyslexia assessment.

I know that I can struggle in educational settings (and did all the way through my school years, although I got half decent grades) but don't know if this is solely due to anxiety issues.

Could you tell me more about lateralisation please?

Thanks also for the suggestion about the dyslexia forum, I may take a look at that later.

As you may have read in some of my other postings, I was undiagnosed as a coeliac for so many years. This is just another avenue I am exploring on my journey to complete wellness. If only having CD was solely about having a dodgy stomach...

[Penel]

Sorry about the jargon! Lateralisation refers to the brain and how the two sides are used in different processes (speech, reading etc). Both sides have to work together. Some Dyslexics seem to have problems with this.

Have a look at The Britsh Dyslexia Association if you are in the UK. Dyslexics can often learn to read but continue to have problems with spelling, organisation, memory, maths.

Good luck with the journey!