I have celiac disease. I don't know why I haven't blogged about it before now, but I think it is about time. This is a general overview of celiac disease and gluten intolerance.
What is celiac disease? Celiac disease almost always begins with a genetic predisposition. At any point in the life of a predisposed person a celiac gene can get turned on. This can happen in the womb, after a serious illness or viral infection, or with significant hormonal changes like puberty, pregnancy or menopause. When one or more of these genes gets "turned on" the person becomes gluten intolerant. That is when all hell breaks loose.
In simple terms: The gluten intolerant person eats gluten (the protein found in WHEAT, RYE, BARLEY, KAMUT, SPELT, MALT, and most commercial OATS.) When the gluten protein enters the small intestine, the body views the gluten like it would a virus protein. So the immune system send out antibodies and also attacks the small protrusions that cover the lining of the intestine where the gluten is absorbed (villi.) Eventually the villi flatten completely and you have celiac disease. Because the body is attacking itself, celiac disease is an autoimmune disease.
Current estimates are that 1 in 100 Americans have celiac disease, but only 1% of those people know it. Until very recently, most gastroenterologists (gut doctors) thought that CD was very rare and only appeared in children. Likewise they were taught that unless all your villi were flattened you did not have celiac disease and therefore did not need to avoid gluten. I'm no doctor, but this sounds like one of the dumbest things I have ever heard! Recent studies show that as many as 29% of Americans are gluten intolerant, i.e. that they have this autoimmune reaction happening in their guts every day. Still physicians do not advise these folks to stop eating gluten because the patient will reverse the condition and the doctor won't know when the person ACTUALLY HAS full blown celiac disease!!! Insanity! "We need you to be 100% sick before we can recommend the tried and true treatment that can cure your condition right now."
The significance of gluten intolerance to the individual is three fold: symptoms, system-wide effects, and co-diseases, all of which can seriously affect your quality of life long before you technically have celiac disease.
The traditional symptoms of gluten intolerance are varied and include diarrhea, constipation, bloating, stomach aches, abdominal discomfort, stabbing sensation in abdomen, nausea, and unexplained weight gain or loss. We all have one or more of these symptoms at some point. The concern comes when the problem is repeated and significant. Symptoms tend to be worse in early childhood, decrease or disappear during puberty, then reappear and worsen as time goes on. However, some men and women do not develop traditional symptoms until later in life, and occasionally will have no obvious symptoms at all.
Still there are serious system-wide issues resulting from gluten intolerance that can occur with or without tradtional symptoms. Because the villi in the small intestine are constantly under attack a) the immune system is always "on" using up the body's resources and resulting in fatigue, and b) the nutrients that are normally absorbed in the same section of the intestine as gluten can not be absorbed in part or at all into the body. Illnesses related to these two factors are chronic fatigue symdrome, chronic migraine syndrome, anemias (both iron-deficiency and macrocytic), anxiety and depression, chronic muscle and joint pain, hormone imbalances, infertility, schizophrenia (approx. 10%), various cancers, osteopenia/osteoporosis, growth failure in children, ADD/ADHD, and skin conditions especially dermatitis herpetiformis.
Celiac Disease also tends to present with other diseases, especially other autoimmune diseases such as: diabetes, lupus, fibromyalgia, Hepatitis C, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Crohn's disease (nearly 60% are gluten intolerant according to an Italian study,) asthma, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, microscopic colitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, peripheral neuropathy, ataxia, seizure disorders such as epilepsy, thyroid disorders, downs syndrome, addisons disease, dental enamal hypoplasia, multiple sclerosis, pancreatic disorders, gallbladder disease, impotency, autism.
If you have or you have a family history of any of the above symptoms, conditions or diseases, you could be gluten intolerant. For testing info, check out the cool links section. The good news is that if your problems result from your being gluten intolerant, they will improve or be eliminated by switching to a gluten free diet.
Interesting facts:
3 times as many women as men are diagnosed with celiac disease. Is it because women have more natural events that could turn the gene on or because women are more likely to seek medical help?
A sufferer of celiac disease gets a diagnosis on average 11 years after first seeking medical help.
Autism affects 3 times as many boys as it does girls. Many researchers believe that gluten, along with cow's milk protein (casein), plays a role in autism spectrum disorders which include ADD and ADHD. In a 2001 study more than twice as many kids with celiac disease had these disorders than the control group.
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