Gluten is this stuff in wheat, barley, and rye that messes with people who have celiac disease. It’s a long-term autoimmune disorder. So when folks with this condition eat gluten, their body freaks out and attacks their small intestine by mistake. That attack causes a bunch of swelling and harm, which messes up how well nutrients get absorbed, and that could lead to loads of different health issues.
The Signs You Might Have Celiac Disease
How celiac disease shows up can change from person to person and might hit different parts of the body. While a bunch of people get the typical belly problems, some might have issues that don’t have anything to do with digestion, or they don’t even show any signs at all.
Stomach Troubles:
- Diarrhea: Lots of people get runny poop a lot.
- Bloating and Gas: A bunch of folks feel like their tummy’s all puffed up and they have too much farting going on.
- Bellyaches or getting those tight feels around the tummy is what they call abdominal pain.
- Nausea and Vomiting: Sometimes peeps can’t shake off feeling queasy, and it leads to them barfing.
- Constipation: Now this is the total opposite of diarrhea — some peeps just can’t go number two.
Non-Tummy Related Stuff:
Fatigue: You feel tired all the time, and sleeping doesn’t help. Anemia: It’s often because you’re not getting enough iron, which messes with how it’s absorbed. Osteoporosis or Osteomalacia: Your bones might get weak or start to soften since you’re not absorbing enough calcium and vitamin D. Dermatitis Herpetiformis: This one’s a skin rash that’s all itchy and blistery popping up on your elbows, knees, torso, scalp, or butt. Mouth Ulcers: Ouch, these are those super sore spots that can show up inside your mouth. Headaches and Neurological Symptoms: We’re talking about intense headaches even migraines, that weird numb feeling you get in your hands or feet, trouble keeping your balance, and even your thinking getting all fuzzy.
- Joint Pain: When your joints hurt or give you trouble.
- Elevated Liver Enzymes: Might point to something up with the liver.
Celiac disease can mess with kids causing stuff like:
- Stunted Growth: They might not grow as expected or be shorter.
- Slow to Hit Puberty: Puberty could show up late.
- Weird Teeth: You might see stains or dents in the teeth.
It’s wild that over half of grown-ups with celiac disease deal with problems that don’t even involve their guts, which just shows how this thing can affect the whole body.
What Brings It On and the Dangers
Celiac disease pops up from a mix of genes and stuff around us. You gotta have certain gene tags – we’re talking about the HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 here. But hey just because you have them doesn’t mean you’ll get sick. They’re needed, but they’re not the whole story.
Now, let’s chat about what might kickstart celiac disease if you’ve got those genes:
- Gluten Consumption: Numero uno cause here. Eating gluten gets the body’s defenses messed up.
- Infections: We’re looking at the gut bugs, in particular. They can mess with how your gut works and how your body fights back.
- Surgery Pregnancy, or Severe Stress: Big stuff happening in your life might just set the wheels in motion for this disease.
Yep, some folks have a bigger shot at getting celiac disease.
- Family Story: If a close family member has celiac disease, you’re at higher risk.
- Type 1 Diabetes: This is an autoimmune thing that’s often found with celiac disease.
- Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Graves’ disease are types of autoimmune thyroid problems.
- Genetic Issues: These include things like Down syndrome, Turner syndrome, and Williams syndrome.
- Tiny Colitis: It’s when the colon’s lining gets all inflamed.
- Addison’s Disease: It messes with how your adrenal glands work.
Figuring Out If It’s Celiac Disease
Nailing the right diagnosis is super important so you can manage it . To figure out if it’s celiac disease, docs go through steps like:
- Serological Tests: These are blood tests looking for special antibodies that show an immune reaction to gluten. Usual tests are:
- Tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies (tTG-IgA): If you’ve got high levels, it might mean celiac disease.
- Endomysial Antibodies (EMA): These are super precise for spotting celiac disease.
- Deamidated Gliadin Peptide (DGP) Antibodies: Sometimes these come in handy with the little ones.
- Genetic Testing: Searching for HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 genes helps with figuring out if someone has the condition when it’s not so clear.
- Endoscopy with Biopsy: Positive blood tests, or still thinking someone’s got the condition even if blood tests don’t show it, means an upper endoscopy might be next up. They put a bendy tube that’s got a camera on it through the mouth to take a good look at the small intestine. Plus, they nab tiny bits of tissue, like biopsies, to check out if the villi are all smashed down and spot any other tell-tale signs.
You gotta get tested before you start skipping out on gluten, ’cause if you don’t, you might end up with test results that don’t show the real problem.
Troubles you get when you ignore Celiac Disease
If you don’t handle celiac disease right, it can mess up your health big time:
- Not getting enough nutrients: When your body can’t suck up the good stuff from food, you could start to lose weight, get anemic, or be missing out on key vitamins and stuff.
- Bones getting brittle: You’re more likely to get weak bones or even break them because you’re not getting enough calcium and Vitamin D.
