One hundred and sixty-two of 182 patients with coeliac disease provided satisfactory details of family size and the prevalence of coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel disease among their first-degree relatives. Patients ranged in age from 11 months to 79 years with a mean age of 41 (±23) years. Twenty patients had at least one first-degree relative with coeliac disease: a total of 25 of 861 relatives were affected (prevalence=2904/100,000) compared with an expected 0.9 cases (prevalence=100/100,000;p<0.001). Six relatives had inflammatory bowel disease (prevalence=697/100,000) compared with an expected 1.3 cases (prevalence=150/100,000;p<0.001). Five of these had ulcerative colitis, and one had Crohn's disease. The relative risk of ulcerative colitis is, therefore, five times greater for first-degree relatives of people with coeliac disease than for the general population (95 per cent confidence interval, 4.7–7.2). There is clear association between coeliac disease and ulcerative colitis, which may point to factors involved in the aetiology of colit
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