Weight loss surgery & Celiac Disease

Question
I need to know if someone who has Celiac Disease can have gastric by pass surgery to help loose weight, and if so what procedure would be best?

Answer
Marcia,
Just be sure we are on the same page, I want to be sure we are referring to celiac sprue, the autoimmune disease that is activated/exacerbated by consumption of wheat or any food that contains gluten.

As long as that is our topic, I share the opinion of most bariatric surgeons that there is no conflict with this disease and any of the common bariatric surgical procedures including gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, and gastric band.  For all of these, one of several standard diet recommendations is to minimize carbohydrate intake.  Since wheat is a "carb," patients are routinely encouraged to avoid wheat.  There is no nutritional requirement for wheat or gluten in any bariatric surgery diet.

I left a small-volume bariatric surgical procedure out of this discussion because it depends to a significant degree on malabsorption of food by means of intestinal re-routing.  I might worry slightly that the surgical effect on top of any impairment caused by the celiac disease could lead to nutritional deficit.

Best of luck to you!
Dr JP

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