Coping with Celiac Disease

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by Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac.

Celiac disease is an inflammatory disease of the upper small intestine caused by intolerance to the gluten affecting many genetically susceptible individual. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, and other similar proteins found in rye, barley and oats. These proteins damage the small finger-like projections (villi) that line the small intestine.When damaged and inflamed, the villi are unable to absorb water and nutrients such as vitamins, folic acid, iron and calcium. This causes the celiac to be susceptible to a variety of other conditions related to malabsorption, including lactose intolerance. Clinical and mucosal recovery after incorporating a gluten free diet is objective evidence that the problem is gluten induced.

Causes and Symptoms of Celiac Disease

The causes of Celiac disease are presently presumed to be:

– Genetic susceptibility to the illness.

– A trigger, which could be one of:

– An environmental agent, probably a virus or other infection

– Stress

– Pregnancy – Possible exposure to gluten as a young baby before the gut barrier has developed fully. This association is currently under investigation.

The timing of the first exposure to gluten is also thought to be important. Babies who were introduced to wheat, barley, or rye at any time in the first three months had five times the risk of developing celiac over those exposed at 4 to 6 months. Those exposed later had a slightly increased risk relative to those exposed at 4-6 months.

Celiac disease has many and varied symptoms, and adult symptoms are different from those of children. A range of symptoms and signs may be associated with untreated celiac disease. Diarrhea is one of the most common symptoms to affect people of all ages with celiac disease. Children may not gain weight or grow properly, while adults may find they lose weight. Malabsorption may also leave people tired and weak, because of anaemia caused by iron or folate deficiency.