Consider this something of a micro blog post as I offer up your scientific TV dinner today in the form of the paper by White and colleagues* (open-access) on the numbers game when it comes to coeliac disease (even celiac disease if you prefer) in children.
On the understanding that not everyone knows about the currently known hows and whys of coeliac disease (CD) - the premier autoimmune condition linked to the protein gluten - readers might want to check out my CD mega-post over on a sister blog (see here).
Self-promotion over and done with, the paper from White et al looking at the incidence (that's incidence not prevalence) of CD is an important one, because as the authors conclude: "The significant increase in classic cases is strongly suggestive of a true rise in CD incidence". In other words, it's not just about better case ascertainment, at least when it comes to CD in Scotland.
So to the next question: 'why the increase?' We've been given a few areas that might require some further investigation (see here and here and here) but I'm not going to make any sweeping generalisations at this time.
