Celiac Disease

What is Celiac Disease?

Celiac disease is a serious autoimmune disorder that can occur in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. It is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide. Two and one-half million Americans are undiagnosed and are at risk for long-term health complications. When people with celiac ingest gluten, the immune system is put on hyperdrive to start attacking body tissue!

Long-term Effects

Celiac disease can develop at any age after people start eating foods or medicines that contain gluten. Left untreated, celiac disease can lead to additional serious health problems.

These include the development of other autoimmune disorders like Type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis (MS), dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) (an itchy skin rash), anemia, osteoporosis, infertility and miscarriage, neurological conditions like epilepsy and migraines, short stature, and intestinal cancers.

What happens when someone with celiac ingests gluten?

Their immune system begins attacking healthy body cells. For some this causes no direct effects, meaning they only know if they've been glutened based on blood tests, endoscopy/biopsy results, or the development of secondary conditions (DH, MS, arthritis, etc.). For others, they have a reaction. Reactions can take anywhere from a couple of hours to up to a week to develop. The length of the reaction also varies, anywhere from a couple of days to multiple weeks!! Symptoms are just as variant including, but not limited to: abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, joint pain, restless leg syndrome, migraines, fatigue, fainting, temporary paralysis, and much more.

But, like how much gluten?

Legally in the US to be gluten-free something has to have less than 20 parts per million, but some with celiac can have reactions to food with 10-15 parts per million.

Types of Celiac

The types of celiac can be broken into two categories: symptoms and recovery.

Symptom Types

Asymptomatic celiac and Symptomatic celiac are the two types. If you have asymptomatic the only way to know that celiac is present is through blood tests, biopsy, or to be alerted by the presence of secondary conditions. Symptomatic celiac is when symptoms are present, but symptoms can be all over the place, making diagnosis still very difficult. Asymptomatic makes up anywhere from 30-50% of those with celiac.

Recovery

Refractory and non-refractory are the two types of recovery affecting celiac. Refractory, or refractory spruce, means that the body will not heal from the damage caused prior to diagnosis. Non-refractory means recovery will occur, but not necessarily all damage will be healed. Refractory is less common than non-refractory.

Questions? Ask a celiac!

I and others with celiac have so much information on the topic we could talk you to sleep! I'll try to answer any and all questions!

Source: Celiac Disease Foundation and the three million books I've read :)