Celiac Disease: What? Who? How?

Desiree Ferrandi, a 50-year-old female who I had the pleasure to meet and interview, is 1 out of the about 3 million people in the world suffering from Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease is just one out of the many chronic illnesses that affect nearly 3 million people in America. It is a disorder that can lead to intestine damage if gluten is ingested. A strict, gluten-free diet is the only current treatment. Celiac, like other chronic illnesses, not only affects the health and body of someone, but it affects all aspects of one’s

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the ingestion of gluten damages the lining of the small intestine and thus leads to a wide range of symptoms and health issues. However, it is often confused with gluten intolerance or misrepresented as a dietary restriction. Consequently, most people assume cutting off pasta and baked goods from one’s diet for a limited period of time is enough to cure it. Therefore, it is necessary to raise awareness of the true definition of celiac disease and to familiarize people with the seriousness of this illness. This blog is my platform to share my story with this medical condition. My aim is to highlight the fact that having celiac is a lifelong journey that goes far beyond bread and cookies. My ultimate goal is to reveal the impact of the disease on one’s lifestyle and to uncover the concealed and invisible aspects of being celiac.

The lifelong prognosis of CD includes periods of remission and exacerbation but unfortunately, there is no known cure (Farrell & Dempsey, 2014, p. 917). Management involves adhering to corticosteroid medication in controlling the inflammation process (Bullock & Hales, 2013, p. 825). Relief from diarrhoea and abdominal pain can be treated with relevant medication (Bullock & Hales, 2013, p. 826).

When we first found out that I had Celiac Disease, we had a hard time adjusting. None of my family knew what gluten was until then. We heard about thing like cross contamination or even that I couldn’t be in the same room that flour is being used. Slowly, we learned how to accommodate for my needs. We went to a dietitian who showed us how to spot foods that had gluten in it. We also found out that the grocery store Reasor’s labels food that is gluten free. After a couple of years, it became easy for us to find foods and drinks that did not have any gluten in

While symptoms differ from patient to patient, some may be more common. Symptoms consist of Diarrhea, bleeding out of the rectum, serious need to move bowels, Stomach cramps along with pain, Sensation of incomplete evacuation, Constipation, Fever, Loss of appetite, Weight Loss, Fatigue, Night sweats, and Loss of normal menstrual cycle. Crohns Disease affects the area of the small intestine and the colon. Diagnosis consist a standard physical exam of your body followed by some basic questions to help physicians learn more about your general health, diet, family history, and environment. After the basic procedures are done there will be a couple of laboratory tests done to study bloody stool, as well as X-rays of the upper and lower GI

Intestinal obstruction secondary to active inflammation is the most common complication. Patients with colonic involvement are at risk for developing colon cancer. Subsets of patients develop fistulas that are usually managed by medication or parental nutrition, but may require surgery. Nutritional and vitamin deficiencies are common, resulting from inadequate diet, intestinal loss of protein, or malabsorption. Systemic complications may include arthritis, skin lesions, anemia, liver and biliary disease, inflammation of the eyes or mouth, and bleeding disorders. Some of these problems resolve during treatment of the disease, but some may be treated separately. Consultations with dietitians, wound care specialists, or pain management clinicians and physiological support clinicians are not uncommon.

When you have celiac disease the body’s autoimmune system is triggered when gluten is consumed. The body’s defense system ultimately attacks of the lining of the small intestine know as villi.

This article is focused around Celiac Disease and how the autoimmune disorder affects athletes that suffer from this disease. This article goes over several difficulties that come along with Celiac Disease (CD) such as, Etiology, exercise prescription, and diet management. The purpose of this article is to inform athletes with CD and even healthcare professionals that sometimes the signs are not clear and professionals have to take the correct steps and test to find the appropriate solution. The summary of this article would have to be that the number of CD cases are increasing rapidly throughout the United States. And with the rapid growth of athletes with CD, healthcare professionals had to become more educated with this disease because it was so hard to spot in individuals.

Enzymes are essential to the proper functioning of the human body. Enzymes are catalysts, which cause reactions to occur. The two primary classes of enzymes for maintaining life functions are digestive and metabolic enzymes. The primary digestive enzymes are classified as proteases, amylases and lipases. These enzymes can help breakdown food molecules. Metabolic enzymes are responsible for the repairing and structuring of every cell. Inadequate production of digestive enzymes can have a negative impact on the breakdown of food into the various nutrients our bodies require.

Patient might experience mild or sever pain, crampy, and aching that is similar to appendicitis. Passing of gas or stool elimination may reduce the adverse effect of pain. According to spivak & deSouza (2008), patient that are of high risk are those with the history of low-fiber diet, constipation, high intake of red meat, severe dehydration, and aging. The diagnostic tests are barium enema which determines number of diverticula, CBC indicates present of anemia, colonoscopy exposes present of diverticula, CT scan reveals changes in the colon wall, GI bleeding scan that identifies active bleeding, and CBC with differential reveals leukocytosis.

Celiacs disease (gluten-sensitive enteropathy) is a condition where in some people, gluten cannot be digested and causes an immune response. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, oats, and rye. In some people who take in and ingest gluten, an enzyme named transglutaminase transforms the gluten into a chemical that triggers an immune reaction, causing irritation and inflammation of the lining of the small intestine (Wedro, 2016). The microvilli that make up the inside surface of the intestine are destroyed, causing nutirents to pass without being, like our body needs from our diet. This can cause damage to other organs in the body due to malabsorption. (Wedro, 2016) Organs that depends the most on nutrients to function properly consist of the liver, bones and the brain. This is crucial especially in children because malnutrition can lead to abnormal growth and development. (Wedro, 2016) Celiacs disease can also be known by Coeliac Disease. Roughly 8,000 years after its first appearence, celiacs disease was identified and named. A Greek physician named Aretaeus of Cappadocia who lived in the first century AD, wrote about “The Coeliac Affection.” Also, he called it “koiliakos” after the Greek word “koelia” meaning abdomen. (Guandalini, 2007) Another 17 centuries passed, and in the early 19th century Dr. Mathew Baillie, presumably unaware of Aretaeus, published his observations on a chronic diarrheal disorder regarding adults, causing malnutrition and characterized by a

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder which is triggered by consumption of a dietary protein called gluten. Celiac disease causes the immune system to react abnormally to gluten. This immune response can lead to damage of the small intestines therefore causing malabsorption of vital nutrients. Gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and triticale (a cross between wheat and rye). Celiac disease is also referred to as celiac sprue, gluten-sensitivity and non-tropical sprue. Gluten is not only contained in grains but it is also a hidden ingredient in a very large number of prepared foods. Celiac disease is a genetic disorder which means that the genes which predispose people to celiac disease can be passed on from parent to child in the DNA. Celiac disease is also more common among people with other genetic disorders including Down syndrome and Turner syndrome, a condition that affects girls’ development.

Consumption of cereal crops has been important in the history of humankind, and the ingestion of gluten – a class of proteins present in certain types of cereals which are mainly found in bread, pasta, cookies, and beer - has been linked with the development of diseases. Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune enteropathy, affecting mainly the small intestine. CD is triggered by the ingestion of gluten in genetically susceptible individuals, in which the unique treatment is the adherence to a long-term gluten-free diet (GFD). Altered microbiota in CD patients is emerging as a new factor in the development of the disease, prompting the research of probiotics as therapy. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge about features of CD, and discuss how microbiota could influence and/or be influenced by CD.

Celiac disease is a fairly common disease but is not very well known. Celiac disease, or celiac sprue, is a digestive condition triggered by consumption of the protein gluten (Hill, Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of celiac disease in children, 2011). Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and oats. People with celiac disease who eat foods containing gluten experience an immune reaction in their small intestines, causing damage to the inner surface of the small intestine and an inability to absorb certain nutrients (Hill, Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of celiac disease in children, 2011).

Countless plagues, disorders, and diseases have cut many human lives short over the 160 thousand years since Homo sapiens evolved from their ancestors. Since then, human’s increasing knowledge of medical science has allowed for them to thrive for much longer than their primitive predecessors. These conditions have evolved in a costimulatory way with all species throughout life’s evolution, and although some of these situations are beneficial (symbiotic) many diseases benefit only one organism at the expense of another (exploitative). Much like an exploitative situation an organism can cause a disadvantageous situation for itself, such is the case in hypochondriasis which is when a person believes that they have an illness and starts to develop symptoms because of this belief. Celiac disease is an intestinal disorder caused by an autoimmune response to an individual’s own tissue, this is triggered by the ingestion of anything which contains gluten or gluten-related products. On the other hand, Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) mimics some of the symptoms found in Celiac disease and it is generally a self-diagnosed disease. From this, it is clearly seen that NCGS is a primary example of hypochondriasis. Celiac disease is a very real, documented medical phenomenon while NCGS, with little proof of its actual existence, is nothing more than a placebo that has started to affect (for the most part) those in Western society.