When people with celiac disease eat gluten, their body mounts an immune response that attacks the small intestine. Gluten is a protein that's found in wheat, rye, and barley. It’s what makes dough elastic and gives bread its chewy texture.
These attacks cause damage to the villi. These are small fingerlike projections that line the small intestine, and they promote nutrient absorption. When your villi are injured, your small intestine can’t properly absorb nutrients from food. Eventually, this can lead to malnourishment, as well as loss of bone density; miscarriage, infertility or even neurological diseases or certain cancers.
What Is Celiac Disease?
It's basically a serious immune reaction to eating gluten. And it only happens with genetically predisposed people. What's more, the disease is hereditary.
If your celiac disease isn’t better after at least a year without gluten, then it’s refractory or nonresponsive celiac disease.
Interestingly, most people with the disease never know that they have it. Researchers think that only 20% of people with the disease get the right diagnosis. The damage to your intestine is very slow, and symptoms are so varied that it can take years to get a diagnosis.
Celiac Disease Symptoms
Celiac disease isn’t the same thing as a food allergy, so the symptoms are different. If you’re allergic to wheat but eat something with wheat in it, you may have itchy or watery eyes or a hard time breathing.
If you have celiac disease and accidentally eat something with gluten in it, you may have symptoms including:
- Abdominal pain
- Anaemia
- Bloating or a feeling of fullness
- Bone or joint pain
- Constipation
- Diarrhoea
- Gas
- Heartburn
- Itchy, blistery rash (doctors call this dermatitis herpetiformis)
- Headaches or fatigue
- Mouth ulcers
- Nausea
- Nervous system injury, including numb or tingling hands or feet, balance problems, or changes in awareness
- Poop that’s pale and smells especially bad, or floats (steatorrhea)
- Weight loss
Celiac disease can also cause a loss of bone density and reduced spleen function (hyposplenism).
Children with celiac disease are more likely to have intestinal problems, including:
- Bloating or belly swelling
- Constipation
- Diarrhoea
- Pale, foul-smelling poop
- Upset stomach or vomiting
- Weight loss
If celiac disease keeps a child’s body from absorbing the nutrients they need, they can have problems including:
- Anaemia
- Damaged tooth enamel
- Delayed puberty
- Failure to thrive (in infants)
- Crankiness or mood changes
- Neurological problems like learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Slow growth and short height
Not everyone with the disease will have these symptoms. Actually, some people don’t notice any problems, which can make diagnosis difficult.
Causes and Risk Factors
Research hasn’t found a definite cause of this disease. Also, it tends to run in families and might be linked to certain genes. So stressful medical events such as a viral infection or surgery can trigger it. And so can emotional trauma or pregnancy.
If one of your close family members has it, like a parent or sibling, you have a 1 in 10 chance of getting celiac disease.
Disease Complications
Celiac disease is dangerous when you don’t get treatment. Complications include:
- Cancer, including intestinal lymphoma and small bowel cancer
- Damaged tooth enamel
- Infertility and miscarriage
- Lactose intolerance
- Malnutrition
- Nervous system problems like seizures or pain and numbness in your hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy)
- Pancreatic disease
- Weak bones
Tests and Diagnosis
Doctors use two blood tests to help find out if you have celiac disease:
- Serology tests that look for certain antibodies
- Genetic testing to look for human leukocyte antigens to rule out celiac disease
If you're on a gluten-free diet, you'll need to come off it before having the antibody test so the results will be correct.
If the blood test shows that you might have celiac disease, you’ll need to have an endoscopy. This is a procedure in which your doctor looks at your small intestine and takes a bit of tissue to see whether it’s damaged.
Celiac Disease Treatment
No drugs treat celiac disease. You’ll need to change your diet. Unless they’re labeled as gluten-free, don’t eat foods that are typically made with grains, including:
- Beer
- Bread, cake, and other baked goods
- Cereals
- Pasta
Common products like medications and toothpaste can also contain gluten. So it’s important to check the labels.
If you have a serious lack of nutrients, your doctor may have you take gluten-free vitamins and mineral supplements and will give you medication if you have a skin rash.
After you’ve been on a gluten-free diet for a few weeks, your small intestine should begin to heal, and you’ll start to feel better.
Web MD
Also read: Everything You Should Know About Viral Gastroenteritis In Children
