Living Free with IBD Newsletter

Crohn’s vs Celiac Disease: Key Differences and Similarities

Both celiac disease and Crohn’s disease are chronic inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract. 

While symptoms can be similar, these two autoimmune diseases have different causes, triggers, treatment, and nutritional recommendations.

Crohn’s disease vs celiac disease

Let’s dive into how these two diseases can impact your health, and how your food choices play a role.

What is Crohn’s disease?

More than half a million people in the United States are estimated to have Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (commonly abbreviated as IBD). To avoid additional confusion between Crohn’s vs. celiac vs. IBS, learn more about IBD vs. IBS).

Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the GI tract from the mouth to the anus, but most commonly affects the end of the small intestine (ileum) and the beginning of the colon. And inflammation of the intestine can “skip,” or leave normal areas in between patches of diseased intestine. It can affect the entire thickness of the bowel wall.

No one factor has been identified as causing Crohn’s disease. Rather, researchers have identified at least four factors that may contribute to developing the condition:

• Genetics
• the gut microbiome
• the immune system
• an environmental trigger

Food triggers are a concern for many people with Crohn’s disease, as certain foods may be more likely to cause inflammation, flare-ups, and symptoms for some people. While there are some food triggers that are more common for people with Crohn’s disease, different foods appear to affect different guts differently with this condition.

What is Celiac Disease?

2 million people in the United States are estimated to have celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease. Eating foods containing gluten, the protein in wheat, rye, and barley, causes a person’s own immune system to attack and damage the small intestine.

These attacks can cause symptoms like cramping and diarrhea, but damage to the small intestine can also disrupt a person’s ability to absorb nutrients from food.

Similar Symptoms of Crohn’s vs Celiac Disease

Overlapping symptoms between Crohn’s disease and celiac disease include:

• abdominal pain
• anemia
• diarrhea
• fatigue
• fever
• joint or muscle pain
• nausea or vomiting
• rectal bleeding
• short stature
• weight loss

These similar symptoms mean that it can be difficult to tell the conditions apart without diagnostic testing. To confirm a diagnosis of either, a doctor will likely order blood tests, a biopsy, endoscopy, and other tests.

Is it Possible to Have Both Celiac and Crohn’s Disease?

Even with some conflicting data, most studies conclude that celiac disease is more common in IBD patients. Researchers believe the prevalence of Crohn’s disease is higher than ulcerative colitis in patients with celiac disease.

Conversely, a meta-analysis published in 2020 in the journal Gastroenterology, which involved more than 60 individual studies, showed that people with celiac disease are almost 10 times as likely to have IBD, including Crohn’s disease and UC — compared with people who don’t have celiac disease.

With this increased prevalence and many similar symptoms, some researchers suggest that patients over the age of 40 who are anemic or have chronic diarrhea, and are diagnosed with celiac disease, should also have a colonoscopy to test for IBD.

Still, even though Crohn’s and celiac disease may be related, having one condition doesn’t mean you’ll develop the other.

Can Celiac Disease be Mistaken for Crohn’s Disease?

Because similar symptoms like abdominal pain and diarrhea may be present in both diseases, telling the difference between Crohn’s disease and celiac disease can be difficult. Medical doctors often use blood tests, endoscopies and/or biopsies to determine which disease is present.

Please note: it’s important to not start a gluten-free diet before completing these tests, otherwise some of the labs tested may come back normal and you won’t receive a proper diagnosis.

Diet Tips with Celiac Disease and/or Crohn's Disease

If you have celiac disease and/or Crohn's disease and are looking for nutritional recommendations, check-out the full blog here:

https://eatwellcrohnscolitis.com/crohns-vs-celiac-disease-key-differences-and-similarities/