To prevent celiac disease (gluten-induced enteropathy), attention must be paid to reducing individual risk factors.Behavioral risk factors
- Diet
- Consumption of foods containing gluten
Prevention factors (protective factors)
- Genetic factors:
- Genetic risk reduction depending on gene polymorphisms:
- Genes/SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism):
- Gene: HLA-DQA1
- SNP: rs2187668 in the gene HLA-DQA1
- Allele constellation: GG (0.3-fold).
- Genes/SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism):
- Genetic risk reduction depending on gene polymorphisms:
- Breastfeeding (questionable protective effect!).
- Introduction of smaller amounts of gluten preferably between the fifth and seventh month of life (questionable protective effect!).
- Early intake of gluten-rich foods in infant formula appears to influence the prevalence of celiac disease in three-year-olds: in children who had been placed 6 months exclusively, celiac disease was diagnosed in 1, 4% of cases; in the group with gluten introduction after the fourth month of life, no child developed the disease.Limitation: celiac disease diagnoses were rarely confirmed by biopsy.
