Rheumatoid Arthritis Support

DH is an autoimmune disease, and patients with DH are more likely than others to have thyroid problems and intestinal lymphoma.

Dermatitis herpetiformis does not usually cause complications on its own, without being associated with another condition. Complications from this condition however arise from the autoimmune character of the disease as an over-reacting immune system is a sign that something does not work well and might cause problems to other parts of the body which do not necessarily involve the digestive system.

Gluten intolerance and the body's reaction to it are what make the disease more worrying in what concerns the possible complications. This means that complications that may arise from dermatitis herpetiformis are the same with those resulted from coeliac disease and they include osteoporosis, certain kinds of gut cancer and an increased risk of other autoimmune diseases such as thyroid disease.

The risks of developing complications from dermatitis herpetiformis decrease significantly if the patients follow a gluten-free diet. The disease has been associated with auto-immune thyroid disease, insulin dependent diabetes, lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome, sarcoidosis, and vitiligo or alopecia areata.


Adapted from the Wikipedia article Dermatitis herpetiformis, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki