Sunday, October 17, 2010

Celiac disease Intestinal Digestive Allergy

From The WashingtonPost.com


The disease is a genetic autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food, according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, a nonprofit organization.

When those with the disease consume gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains, such as rye or barley, their immune system attacks the intestine's villi, which help absorb nutrients.

"The first eight inches of the gut" are affected, Andrasik said. Gluten causes it to "enflame and swell, and it stops absorbing. The more damage you have, the less you absorb." 

Left untreated, the disease can cause malnutrition, osteoporosis and intestinal cancers. In women, it carries an increased risk of miscarriage; in children, it can result in short stature. Symptoms include itchy skin rashes, chronic headaches, diarrhea and fatigue.

Celiac disease sufferers go gluten-free


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I just met someone whose family has several members with symptoms similar to mine, apparently this is genetic, they've told me. They suggested  I google  "celiac disease".

Celiac disease symptoms can begin at any age, involve multiple organs, and in both children and adults can be extremely variable -- or there ...

Today, we know that celiac disease can begin at any age, persists for life, can involve multiple organs, and that in both children and adults the symptoms of the disease can be extremely variable – or there may be no obvious symptoms at all. Because there is no standard “picture” of a person with celiac disease, some patients go from doctor to doctor for years, seeking a diagnosis for their illness. 
 The symptoms of celiac disease almost always disappear when the patient follows a strict gluten-free diet. In rare circumstances, when the intestines are so severely damaged by chronic inflammation that they cannot heal even with the gluten-free diet, the patient is said to have unresponsive, or refractory, celiac disease.


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