S3031 A Functional Medicine Program for Patients With Celiac Disease Improves Symptoms and Fatigue Severity

Introduction: Celiac disease (CeD) is an autoimmune response to gluten that leads to whole-body inflammation, nutritional deficiencies, and a myriad of symptoms including diarrhea, fatigue, bloating, joint pains, headaches, and neuropathies. The only approved treatment is dietary gluten elimination. This can be challenging for patients who live in a society filled with gluten and food-centric socialization, and burden of treating the disease adversely affects quality of life. A Functional Medicine program was designed to enhance the treatment of patients experiencing symptoms related to CeD as well as reduce the negative impact of living on a gluten-free diet. Methods: The program included 6 weekly sessions led by a certified Functional Medicine practitioner. Sessions explored nutrition, stress, sleep, and exercise in the context of their disease. Participants were asked to complete the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Medical Symptoms Questionnaire (MSQ), and Impact of a Gluten Free Diet Questionnaire (IGFDQ) at each visit. Results: Fourteen patients with CeD enrolled in the program. Thirteen completed more than 1 session. Sixty-two percent of the participants reported improvement in their MSQ and FSS. Twelve participants completed more than 1 IGFDQ. At the start, 75% of participants reported being negatively impacted by their gluten-free diet at least “sometimes” in the prior week. By the end, only half of the participants reported the same level of burden. Conclusion: The treatment of CeD places a significant psychosocial burden on patients. A strong majority of our participants reported negative impacts on their social and emotional health by having to maintain a gluten-free diet. The authors concluded that delivering lifestyle changes through a multidisciplinary, holistic, functional medicine approach can help improve medical symptoms and fatigue severity. They also found a modest improvement in social well-being through participation in the group-based educational sessions.