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celiac disease and gluten intolerance

Introduction:

n   Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease in which the lining of the small intestine is destroyed by small amounts of gluten (a protein found in grains such as wheat, rye, barley and oats).

 

n   In patients with celiac disease, when gluten is ingested through the diet, the immune system attacks, inflammatory reaction to ingested gluten and damaging the surface of the intestinal wall, thereby reducing the effective surface area for the intestine to absorb nutrients from the food, causing symptoms.

 

n   Celiac disease is a serious condition, if not properly controlled, can lead to complications such as osteoporosis, infertility, chronic poor health, depression and dental problems. However, early diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease significantly reduces the risk of most complications.

 

n   Celiac disease affects people of all ages and genders and is genetically linked.

 

n   The symptoms of celiac disease are similar to those of other diseases and are often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome, lactose intolerance, chronic fatigue syndrome, or diverticular disease, delaying the diagnosis of celiac disease.

 

 

Symptoms:

n   The symptoms and severity of the untreated celiac disease may vary widely from person to person. In some cases, adults with undiagnosed celiac disease may have only iron-deficiency anemia without digestive or intestinal symptoms.

 

n   Most people with celiac disease have one or more symptoms, but someone may be no symptoms. celiac disease and gluten intolerance have digestive problems or other symptoms.

 

n   Digestive symptoms are more common in children, adults have fewer digestive symptoms, digestive symptoms include: abdominal distension, stomach pain, chronic diarrhea, constipation, Gas, Nausea, vomiting, pale, foul-smelling, fatty stools that float.

 

n   Additional symptoms in children with celiac disease include: Damage the enamel of permanent teeth, delayed puberty, failure to thrive in infants mood changes, feeling fidgety or impatient, slowed growth, short height, weight loss.

 

n   Additional symptoms in the adult with celiac disease include: anemia, Red, smooth, shiny tongue, Pain in the bones or joints, fragile bones, depression, anxiety, Ha, dermatitis herpetiformis, infertility or repeated miscarriages, miss menstruation, oral health problems, seizure, hands and feet numbness, tired.

 

n   Celiac disease not only causes that may affect the quality of life and painful symptoms, and if not treated, may cause potentially serious complications, such as anemia, vitamin deficiency, folic acid and B vitamins and fat-soluble vitamins D and K, E, A, low bone mineral density, bone loss, osteoporosis, kidney disease, liver disease, child development, malignant tumor, lymphoma, gastrointestinal cancer and other autoimmune diseases.

 

 

Causes:

n   Celiac disease is an inherited disease that affects about 10 to 20 percent of close relatives (parents or siblings) of people with celiac disease.

 

n   A person with the gene can develop symptoms at any time in their life, triggered by environmental factors such as stress, pregnancy, surgery, or an infectious disease such as diarrhea or pneumonia.

 

n   T1DM, Ulcerative colitis, Neurological diseases such as epilepsy, Thyroid disease, Down syndrome, these diseases will increase the celiac disease of risk.

 

 

Diagnose:

n   When you develop symptoms of Celiac disease, you can initially screen for a blood test, measure the level of antibodies in the blood produced by the body in response to gluten, but the patient needs to eat a diet rich in gluten to make the test more diagnostic, If you stop ingesting gluten before testing, it can produce a false negative, wrongly showing that the patient does not have the disease(blood tests may be less reliable for children under 4 years of age, and they may need to be retested after 3 months).

 

n   If the blood test is positive, the next step is usually a duodenal biopsy from a gastroenterologist. During the biopsy, a small piece of tissue is removed from your small intestine during an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, celiac disease can be diagnosed if the biopsy results are positive.

 

n   A negative genetic test can effectively rule out Celiac disease, but a positive test cannot diagnose it, and can only confirm whether you have a genetic predisposition for Celiac disease.

 

 

Treatment:

n   The only treatment for celiac disease is a lifelong gluten-free diet, strictly comply with no gluten diet can make the intestinal recovery, at the same time can reduce further development into other related diseases and the risk of complications, If you don't have celiac disease, then a gluten-free diet is not the healthiest option, because it will make you can make other risks of nutritional deficiencies, such as iron, folic acid and the necessary vitamins, if you have symptoms, You must be tested for celiac disease before giving up gluten.

 

n   After avoiding gluten, make sure you include certain nutrients and vitamins in your diet. If you can't get them through your diet, take folic acid, B vitamins, and fat-soluble vitamins D, E, A, and K. Some supplements may also contain gluten, so read the label and choose a gluten-free product.

 

n   Pasta, bread, biscuits, baked goods, cereals, French fries, luncheon meat, meat substitutes, soy sauce, salad dressing, beer, these foods usually contain gluten and should be avoided, drugs and non-food products that may contain gluten should also be avoided use.