July 31, 2010

Information on Celiac Disease & Gluten-Free

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disorder in which consumption of gluten causes the body’s immune system to attack and damage the small intestine. When people with celiac disease eat food that contains gluten , the lining of the small intestine becomes inflamed. commonly, this lining, called the mucosa, is covered with hairlike projections called villi. The villi tend to shrink and flatten out in response to the consumption of Gluten. Unfortunately, being Gluten Free is about the only way for most Celiac’s to safely eat.

Genetics can play a major role in celiac disease. In people who carry the celiac genes, gluten proteins and other environmental factors will sometimes trigger the disease. When the nutrients in food are absorbed into the bloodstream through the cells on the villi. When the villi become atrophied, there is less surface area for nutrient absorption, and a condition known as malabsorption results. Consequences of malabsorption include vitamin and mineral deficiencies, osteoporosis, and other problems.

Symptoms of Celiac Disease

The symptoms of celiac disease may begin in infancy, childhood, adulthood, or even very late in life. Some people with celiac disease become violently ill soon after eating just small amounts of gluten. Others have very subtle symptoms, or none at all, and their disease is discovered by accident. Even in symptomatic patients, the diagnosis of celiac disease can take many years, unless the doctor or patient is alert to the possibility that gluten ingestion is to blame.

Diagnosing Celiac Disease

Unfortunately, no single test can make an absolutely positive diagnosis of celiac disease. Instead, doctors depend on a combination of blood tests to look for certain autoantibodies, as well as a biopsy of the small intestine to look for the atrophied villi that are characteristic of celiac disease.

Traditionally, even when blood tests are positive, a small intestine biopsy is usually done during an endoscopy to support the diagnosis. It is possible that with the increasing accessibility of genetic tests to identify individuals who carry the genes for celiac disease, DNA analysis may someday replace the biopsy for confirmation of the blood test findings.

Living with Celiac Disease

Presently, the only treatment for celiac disease is life-long adherence to a strict gluten-free diet. That means no wheat, barley, rye and for the most part, no oats either because oats are generally cross-contaminated with gluten from these other grains. Learning to cope with this diet is laborious because so many staples of a normal diet must be given up and also because gluten lurks as a obscure ingredient in many products. Celiacs have little choice but to learn the ins and outs of a gluten-free diet in order to shop for & prepare food properly.