Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic (long-term) digestive disease in which patients have inflammation or irritation in the small intestine, which causes difficulties with absorbing nutrients from the diet. Patients with CD often have other family members with the condition and are therefore susceptible to this disease. Inflammation in the bowel occurs when a patient with CD begins to eat food that contains gluten. Gluten is the name given to certain types of proteins found in wheat, barley, rye and related grains. Oats are currently considered not to be toxic to persons with CD. However, due to the high possibility of contamination with other gluten containing grains, oats are typically not recommended for people with celiac disease. When food containing the gluten protein arrives in the small bowel, the immune system reacts against the gluten, causing an inflammatory reaction in the wall of the bowel. The small intestine lining is covered by millions of villi (see diagram), which act to increase the surface area of the intestine allowing improved absorption of food. The villi or finger like projections of the small intestine are temporarily damaged by the inflammation in CD, which decreases absorption of food. When gluten is removed from the diet inflammation is reduced and the intestine begins to heal. The time when a patient develops symptoms varies from patient to patient after their first contact with the gluten protein.
Approximately 1 out of every 250 people may have CD though only 1 out of 10 people with celiac disease may be actually diagnosed and are aware that they have this disease. Some of these patients have mild forms of the disease and may have no symptoms or only mild symptoms. There may be as many as 1 million people in the United States and 3-5 million in the world with CD.
CD affects whites more often than non-whites. Infants and children may have celiac disease, but CD is more commonly diagnosed in adulthood, and people can be diagnosed even in their seventies or eighties. Females are more likely to have celiac disease than males.
The symptoms or signs of disease will depend on how much and how badly the intestine is inflamed. Some people have mild inflammation with few symptoms. Even though they may feel quite well there is still damage occurring to the lining of the bowel. Other people have more severe inflammation, which causes symptoms that may be severe enough to lead them to visit their doctor. Occasionally individuals will not have any symptoms even though their small intestine is severely inflamed.
The most common symptoms are:
Other symptoms are:
Someone with celiac disease may have a variety of the above symptoms and different people with celiac disease may have completely different symptoms.
It is important to remember that most patients with abdominal pain, bloating or diarrhea do not have celiac disease. In order to test for celiac disease with blood tests and/or endoscopy the doctor should suspect celiac disease as the cause for the symptoms. When the doctor thinks that celiac disease is possible, but not very likely, then blood tests alone are done. If the blood tests are normal, other tests will not be necessary. Sometimes the doctor strongly suspects that the symptoms are due to celiac disease, or another similar illness, and will request an endoscopy and biopsy (sampling of the tissue of the small intestine). All tests for celiac disease must be done while the patient is on a normal diet that contains gluten. Patients who are concerned that they may have celiac disease should probably not restrict their diet prior to seeking medical evaluation because this may cause false test results but they should seek prompt medical testing.
Specific antibody blood tests are used to diagnose patients with CD. These blood tests are also used to test people who may be at risk for having CD but have no symptoms (relatives of patients with CD). The 2 most used tests are the endomysial antibody and tissue transglutaminase antibody tests. Other tests such as tests for gliadin antibodies are not as accurate because they can be abnormal in patients who don't have celiac disease and are healthy or in people with other digestive problems. Other tests for allergies will not detect celiac disease. Tests on saliva or stool for antibodies are not good substitutes for the blood-based tests.
Endoscopy:
Establishing a firm diagnosis of CD requires taking biopsy samples of the small bowel using endoscopy. Endoscopy involves insertion of a thin flexible tube through the mouth into the stomach and small bowel. Samples are taken from the wall of the small bowel and are examined under a microscope for changes of CD. This test is usually performed with the aid of sedatives.
Celiac disease is treated by avoiding all foods that contain gluten. Gluten is what causes inflammation in the small bowel. When this is removed from the diet, the bowel will heal and return to normal. Medications are not normally required to treat CD except in occasional patients who do not respond to a gluten free diet.
Gluten-free diet:
The following grains contain Gluten and are
NOT ALLOWED IN ANY FORM:
Wheat, rye, barley, kamut, einkorn, spelt and triticale
Frequently overlooked foods that often contain gluten
Getting used to the gluten-free diet requires some lifestyle changes. The key to understanding the gluten-free diet is to become a good ingredient label reader. If a food has questionable ingredients avoid it and find a similar product that you know is gluten-free. Foods containing the following ingredients are questionable and should not be consumed unless it is verified that they do not contain or are not derived from prohibited grains; these products are:
Unidentified:
Be aware that medications may contain gluten ingredients. Gluten containing fillers may be in both prescription and over the counter medications. It is essential to ensure that any medications being taken are gluten free.
ALLOWED
Rice, corn, soy, potato, tapioca, bean, sorghum, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, tef and nut flours
Once a diagnosis of CD is established, these individuals need to remain on the gluten-free diet for the rest of their lives. While this may be difficult at first, patients usually adapt quite well over time.
No. There is no other treatment currently available. All patients with CD must remain on a strict gluten-free diet. Medications are not normally required. Supplemental vitamins, calcium and magnesium may sometimes be recommended but patients are advised to check with their physician about these supplements. Rarely steroids or other drugs are used to suppress the immune system but only in the most severe of cases.
Patients with CD who do not adhere to the gluten-free diet usually continue to suffer from symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, gas and diarrhea. In addition, these patients are at higher risk for developing complications of CD such as cancer of the small bowel and narrowings in the bowel due to inflammation.
Other complications of CD that may be avoided by strictly following a gluten-free diet include tiredness, poor growth, decreased adult height, osteoporosis, bone pain, joint pain, difficulty having children, narrowing of the intestine, cancer of the esophagus (food tube) and small bowel, lymphoma (another type of cancer) and neuropathy (unsteady walking and confusion which may be severe).
