Celiac Disease Is an Autoimmune disorder. Autoimmune disorders are diseases caused by ones own body producing an inappropiate immune response against it's own tissues. In laymens terms this means, your immune system (body's defense system) will no longer recognize it's own elements and will create autoantibodies (auto = self, anti = against) that attacks it's own cells, which causes inflammation and damage.
Celiac disease was first discovered by Aretaeus of cappadocia, an ancient greek Physcian. There is uncertainity regarding both his age and country, but it seems probable that he practiced in the 1st century.
Celiac Disease is caused by a reaction to gliadin (gluten protein) found in wheat, barley, rye and oats (there is some controversary about oats containing gluten)and any of it's derivatives (a substance that can be made from another substance).
When a person who has Celiac Disease or who is gluten intolerant ingests a form of gluten, their enzyme tissue transglutaminase modifies the protein, and the immune system cross reacts with the small bowel tissue, causing an inflammatory reaction. This leads to a truncating of the villi lining the small intestine (Villi aid in the absorption of nutients, and truncating means wasting away), when this happens it interferes with the absorption of nutrients, therefore leads to malnutrion, which is one of the major problems with Celiac Disease or Gluten Intolerance. The ONLY treatment is a lifelong Gluten free diet. Even though Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance is caused by a reaction to wheat proteins, it is not the same as a wheat allergy.
This condition has several other names including, coeliac disease, celiac sprue, non-topical sprue, endemic sprue, gluten enteropathy, gluten sensivity enteropathy. The word Coeliac / Celiac is greek and means abdomen.
SYMPTOMS
Abdominal pain
Anemia
Bloating
Coetaneous bleeding
Diarrhea
Easy bruising
Failure to thrive
Fatigue
Flatulence
Fluid retention
Foul smelling stools
Gas
Hematura
Hypocalacaemia/hypomagnesaemia
Infertility
Iron deficiency anemia
lymphocytic gastritis
Muscle weakness
Muscle wasting
Nausea
Nose bleeds
Obesity
Ostepporosis
Pallor
Panic attacks
ravenous Appetite
Stomach rumbling
Stunted growth in children
Vertigo
Vitamin B12 deficiency
Vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin K defiency
Vomiting
Weight loss
There may be no obvious physical symptoms at all, just a general feeling of tired and weakness.
Conditions/Disorders Associated with celiac disease
Addisons Disease
Arthritis
Ataxia
Attention deficit disorder
Autism
Brain damage
Cancer
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Crohn's disease
Depression
Diabetes
Down syndrome
Epilepsy
Fibromyalgia
gall bladder disease
Heart failure
Inflammatory bowel disease
Irritable bowel disease
Kidney disease
Liver disease
Migraines
Multiple sclerosis
Nerve Damage
Neuropathy
Panceatic disorders
Psoriasis
Schizophrenia
Sepsis
Sjogrens syndrome
Skin rashes
Thrombocytopenic
Thyroid disorders
