Recent research has shown that Type-1 diabetes and celiac disease share some genetic roots. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, analyzed data collected from 9,339 healthy people, 8,064 people with type-1 diabetes and 2,560 people with celiac disease. Data analysis showed those four celiac disease genetic mutations that also appeared in people with type-1 diabetes and two diabetes mutations that also appeared to raise the risk of celiac disease.

David van Heel of St. Barts Hospital and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry said, "These findings suggest common mechanisms causing both celiac and type-1 diabetes. We did not expect to see this very high degree of shared genetic risk factors."

John Todd of Britain's University of Cambridge said, "The next step is to understand how these susceptibility genes affect the immune system, and to keep exploring environmental factors that might alter the risk of type-1 diabetes, which results from an incredibly complex interaction between nature and nurture."