Celiac Disease : A Disease Of GIT - Sign and symptoms - Diagnosis - Treatment - Complicaions If Untreated. Gluten Free Diet For Patients Of Celiac Disease

What is affected in celiac disease?

Our intestine has villi. villi are finger like projections in the inner surface of small intestine. Villi  have further microscopic finger like projections called micro villi. These villi and micro villi greatly increase the surface area of small intestine and these are responsible for absorption of neutrients.

In celiac disease these villi are affected and get damaged. and the person shows the sign and symptoms like diarhoea abdominal pain etc (explained latter)

Why These Villi are affected?

Celliac disease is a disease  of malabsorption ( neutrients are not absorbed properly ) and autoimmune response to gluten.
Gluten is
a substance found in wheat rye and barley. when person with celiac disease eats such food. the immune system of body reacts with gluten and try to destroy it but in this process the micro villi also destroys, and this results in malabsorbtion and symptoms like diarrhea and weight loss.


Symptoms of celiac disease:

    * abdominal bloating and pain
    * chronic diarrhea
    * vomiting
    * constipation
    * pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool
    * weight loss

symptoms varies from person to person.
Irritability is another common symptom in children. Malabsorption of nutrients during the years when nutrition is critical to a child’s normal growth and development can result in other problems such as failure to thrive in infants, delayed growth and short stature, delayed puberty, and dental enamel defects of the permanent teeth.

Adults are less likely to have digestive symptoms and may instead have one or more of the following:

    * idiopathic (of unknown cause) iron deficiency anemia.
    * fatigue
    * bone or joint pain
    * arthritis
    * bone loss or osteoporosis
    * depression or anxiety
    * tingling numbness in the hands and feet
    * seizures
    * missed menstrual periods
    * infertility or recurrent miscarriage
    * canker sores inside the mouth
    * an itchy skin rashes

Researchers are studying the reasons celiac disease affects people differently. The length of time a person was breastfed, the age a person started eating gluten-containing foods, and the amount of gluten-containing foods one eats are three factors thought to play a role in when and how celiac disease appears. Some studies have shown, for example, that the longer a person was breastfed, the later the symptoms of celiac disease appear.


Diagnosis:

• Blood Tests
• skin rash (dermatitis herpetiformis - (DH) is an intensely itchy skin eruption.) 
• intestinal biopsy, 
• screening.

The autoantibodies that doctors usually measure to test for celiac disease are called immunoglobulin A (IgA), anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTGA), and IgA anti-endomysium antibodies (AEA). If the autoantibody levels turn out to be high, the patient probably has celiac disease.


Treatment:

The treatment for Celiac disease is Gluten free diet. it means we have to avoid food containing wheat rye of barley.

Allowed foods:

• amaranth
• arrowroot
• buckwheat
• cassava
• corn
• flax
• Indian rice grass
• Job’s tears    legumes
• millet
• nuts
• potatoes
• quinoa
• rice
• sago seeds
• sorghum
• soy
• tapioca
• teff
• wild rice
• yucca

Avoid foods like;

• wheat
• including einkorn, emmer, spelt, kamut
• wheat starch, wheat bran, wheat germ, cracked wheat, hydrolyzed wheat protein
• barley
• rye
• triticale (a cross between wheat and rye)

Points To Be Remembered;

    * People with celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley.

    * Untreated celiac disease damages the small intestine and interferes with nutrient absorption.

    * Without treatment, people with celiac disease can develop complications such as osteoporosis, anemia,          and cancer.

    * A person with celiac disease may or may not have symptoms.

    * Diagnosis involves blood tests and, in most cases, a biopsy of the small intestine.

    * Since celiac disease is hereditary, family members of a person with celiac disease may wish to be tested.

    * Celiac disease is treated by eliminating all gluten from the diet. The gluten-free diet is a lifetime     

       requirement.

    * A dietitian can teach a person with celiac disease about food selection, label reading, and other strategies        to help manage the disease.

 GLUTEN FREE DIET FOR PATIENTS OF CELIAC DISEASE:

1.     Beverages
2.     Bread, biscuits, cakes and pastry
3.     Cereal products, flours, baking products
4.     Condiments and other flavourings
5.     Dairy products, butter, margarine and oil
6.     Meat, fish, poultry and soups
7.     Snacks
8.     Vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds

Complications Of Untreated Celiac Disease
 

 

1. Malnutrition : Lead To weight loss, anemia, and vitamin deficiencies that may result in fatigue, 

                            stunted growth

2. Decreased Calcium Levels : Calcium and vitamin D are lost in the stool instead of being absorbed

3. Lactose Intolerance 
4. Gastrointestinal Cancer

5. Neurological and Psychiatric Complications: like depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, neuropathy

6. Miscarriage and Congenital Malformation of an Unborn Baby: due to nutrient absorption problems 

7. Short Stature:  in children

Posted in: GASTROINTEROLOGY