Home » Healthy Living » Medicine & Health Science » Diseases, Disorders and Conditions

Celiac Disease and How to Live with Celiac Disease

2 Comments

12 Like

Like 12

Pin It

Ranked #1,548 in Healthy Living, #30,212 overall

All About Celiac Disease, Including the Cause, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Possible Complications, Treament and How to Live With Celiac Disease

Celiac Disease, also known as Celiac Sprue or simply Sprue, is a genetically predisposed autoimmune disease that attacks the small intestines but can also affect any organ system in the human body. If you have been experiencing symptoms that are troubling to both you and your doctor you may want to get checked out for Celiac Disease.

If you or a family member have already been diagnosed with Celiac Disease then you need to take the steps to help your body heal so that your symptoms disappear or at least lessen in severity so that you can lead a more productive and healthier life. You can learn how to live with Celiac Disease especially if it is diagnosed early and that is exactly why I have created this page.

By the way I am a Celiac so many of the research resources I have used to learn about Celiac Disease are listed below in different areas so you can have fast access without investing hours of time like I have. You may want to bookmark this site because it will help you learn what you need to do in order to relieve symptoms, hopefully heal your gastrointestinal tract and avoid complications that can emerge should you for some reason choose not to treat Celiac Disease properly.

Contents at a Glance

The Cause of Celiac Disease
Unexplained Symptoms Could Be Celiac Dis...
Celiac Disease: Methods and Protocols (M...
All About Celiac Disease - Video Present...
Celiac Disease: The Most Important Info...
Celiac Sprue Disease Symptoms

Gliadin, a glycoprotein, and a protein known as glutenin both of which are found in abundance in wheat, barley and rye, together create the cause of Celiac Disease which is called gluten. So in easy to understand layman terms Celiac Disease is caused by a reaction to proteins found in wheat, barley and rye. However ...

Celiac Disease is not the same as a wheat allergy. A true wheat allergy can become immediately life threatening due to Anaphylaxis where as Celiac Disease may become life threatening over time depending upon severity of damage to the small intestine and comorbity with other autoimmune diseases.

Celiac Disease is known by several other names such as Coeliac Disease, Coeliac Sprue, Sprue, non-tropical sprue, endemic sprue, gluten enteropathy or gluten-sensitive enteropathy, and gluten intolerance. As of this date there is only one treatment for Celiac Disease.

Unexplained Symptoms Could Be Celiac Disease and ...

Complicated or refractory Celiac Disease can lead to ...

$Refractory Celiac Disease$

Celiac Disease can present with many different symptoms. It may make you and your doctor think you are a hypocondriac but you need to insist that he or she do some digging to actually find a diagnosis because ...

Celiac Disease is directly linked to intestinal cancer and small bowel lymphoma so even though the chance of your CD developing into complicated or refractory Celiac Disease and then intestinal cancer or small bowel lymphoma is small evidence suggests that untreated Celiac Disease can lead to an early demise. Also undiagnosed and uncontrolled CD often triggers other autoimmune diseases; therefore it is imperative to get it under control as soon as possible. So get your doctor digging to actually find a diagnosis for your unexplained symptoms before the grave digger does his digging and you find yourself pushing up new grass in the local bone yard.

Read about real life symptoms from real people diagnosed with Celiac Disease visit this site

Unexplained symptoms? Ask your physcian to test you! You can fill out this form, print it out and take it to your doctor: Celiac Disease Check List

DIAGNOSING Celiac Disease

Diagnosing Celiac Disease starts with your doctor listening to you so that he/she can get a good feel for your past medical situation and also that of your parents. Then blood tests and maybe a biopsy.

Diagnosing Celiac Sprue
Celiac Disease Tests
Accuracy of Diagnostic Antibody Tests for Coeliac Disease in Children

Who Should Be Tested?

It is this authors opinion that anyone with unexplained/undiagnosed GI symptoms should be tested. If other weird symptoms such as mouth ulcerations (canker sores), tingling hands or feet, RLS (restless leg syndrome which has been linked to Celiac Disease), rash or any other off-the-wall symptoms are present either concurrent with GI symptoms or they present intermittently in those with undiagnosed GI symptoms should definitely be tested for Celiac Disease.

The problem with Celiac Disease is that it can present with a myriad of off-the-wall seemly unrelated symptoms that have a tendency to not only confuse your doctor but incline him/her towards believing you are lonely and simply looking for attention. The reason for this mass confusion in regards to symptoms is because CD can attack any of the major organ systems thereby creating one to a dozen symptoms that do not seem to point to any one diagnosis in particular. For example you could have mouth sores, steatorrhea (fatty stools that float), nausea, tingling hands, restless leg syndrome, one week, constant diarrhea the next with no other symptoms and of course your doctor may simply begin to think you are a hypochondriac and not take your symptoms seriously. This fact could end up devestating after years of uncontrolled Celiac Disease and often CD isn't discovered until someone is diagnosed with acute and/or chronic pancreatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis or some other potentially life threatening condition.

Read more info here: Celiac Disease and Malabsoprtive Disorders

Celiac Disease: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Medicine)

Professor Michael N. Marsh, a recognized world authority on this condition, together with a team of other expert laboratory/clinical investigators from around the world, present a collection of the state-of-the-art techniques for studying the biology and immunopathology of celiac disease.

Celiac Disease: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Medicine)

Amazon Price: $116.42 (as of 05/30/2012)

All About Celiac Disease - Video Presentations

CD is also known as Celiac Sprue

These videos will explain in detail what Celiac Disease is, what causes it, the most common symptoms, how it is diagnosed, treated and so forth. The second video is very indepth with the presentation done by MDs specializing in Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease: by mahc1992 | video info

18 ratings | 9,069 views

curated content from YouTube

Celiac Disease: The Most Important Info About Celiac Disease Is:

Celiac Disease all to often goes undiagnosed for years because it can present with a myriad of confusing symptoms. Childhood symptoms may be different from adult onset and Celiac Disease can affect any organ system in the human body. Long-term undiagnosed Celiac disease can affect the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas and kidneys, not just the small intestines. People with long-term, undiagnosed CD may experience GI, hormonal, neurological and other systemic symptoms together or intermittently.

Celiac Sprue Disease Symptoms

Symptoms of Celiac Disease vary ...

Celiac Disease can present with a myriad of possible symptoms at anytime during ones lifetime. Symptoms may appear shortly after infancy or Celiac Sprue can lie dormant for years and present with symptoms during the third or fourth decade of life or even later.

Due to the myriad of symptoms which are also associated with other conditions it is often overlooked, misdiagnosed, discovered accidentially, or the patient is simply told they are hypocondriacs and so endure needless suffering along with some potentially lethal complications.

Celiac Sprue Symptoms in General

The most common and readily recognizable gastrointestinal symptoms are:

1) Abdominal pain
2) Nausea
3) Vomiting
4) Diarrhea
5) Bloating
6) Fatty stools (they float like a boat)

Nongastrointestinal symptoms include:

1) Skin disorders such as dermatitis herpetiformis, an itchy skin condition characterized by a rash or blisters involving the extremities, the trunk, the buttocks, the scalp, and the neck.

2) Neurologic (nervous system) symptoms such as weakness, problems with balance, and sensory changes (for example,sensation of touch and pain).

3) Hormonal disorders, such as loss of menstruation and infertility in women, and impotence and infertility in men, are very uncommon.

Celiac Disease symptoms usually first present in children when cerals are introduced into their diet and the onset of symptoms is usally gradual. Since Celiac Disease impairs nutrient absorption, essential for growth, children may suffer growth impairment and resulting short stature. Behavioral distriburances including depression, irritability and poor school performance are also common.

The symptoms of adult onset Celiac Sprue may seem to simply appear out of the blue however they are often first triggered by severly stressful events such as the death of a spouse or similar tragedy.

The above is a short list of Celiac Disease symptoms and here's the thing ...

There isn't really a "typical" senario when it comes to Celiac Sprue. Your symptoms could be different from the "classical" or you could present with a classical symptom and several other non-classicals and ...

Due to the real possibility of complications caused by long-term undiagnosed Celiac Disease you could be experiencing a vast number of symptoms not even mentioned here.

The Celiac Disease Diet

This is extremely important because ...

Celiac Disease Diet - Gluten Free for You and Me!

A gluten free diet is the only treatment for Celiac Disease. The Celiac Disease Diet is this: No Gluten. That means NO wheat, barley, rye or products that contain them or substances (deriviatives) made wholey or partially from them - No gluten period.

This is much more difficult to adhere to than one would think because wheat and barley or some food ingredient or additive that contains them such as malt (barley) may be found in almost anything. Canned soups are a prime example. Who would think at first thought that tomato soup would contain wheat? Yet many tomato soups do contain wheat. It is used as a thickening agent.

Many people believe oats to be safe but that isn't necessarily true for two reasons. One reason is that some Celiacs, according to studies do NOT tolerate oats. There is a protein in oats called avenin which is similar to the proteins in wheat, barley and rye. As a result the protein in oats seems to cause the same reaction in a small majority of Celiacs, about 1 in 165. Some Celiacs Can't Do Oats

The other reason oats can be unsafe for all Celiacs is that most oats are either grown next to wheat, barley or rye or the oats are processed in facilities that also process wheat, barley and rye. This is where cross contamination becomes a real problem because even a little gluten from wheat, barley or rye dust will make you sick if you have celiac sprue.

Cross contamination is a real problem for Celiacs because ...

Even peanuts (any nuts) which are NOT a gluten containing food pose problems because nut products are usually processed in plants that also process wheat and barley and many peanut products use wheat in the coatings/spices. This is a major problem for me because I love peanuts!

I love peanut butter!

And guess what?

At this time it is almost impossible to find a nut that hasn't been cross contaminated and most peanut butter is NOT gluten free.

It's not as easy as it would seem to maintain a gluten free diet because the cause, gluten (from wheat, rye, barley), is used in almost everything from flour, pasta and gravey mixes to spices! It would seem that all you may have to do is give up regular bread but oh no, you will find you need to give up tons of foods you may have been relishing previously. And ...

Cross contamination, this one drives me nuts while shopping, is a real problem. It only takes a very small portion of gluten (the amount that could fit on a pin head) to create symptoms and less to create damage to the small intestines. So ...

Even if gluten isn't used directly in the product it may be manufactured in a facility that can create cross contamination. I mean all I wanted was a darn bag of cornmeal but when you read the label carefully you notice, in fine print, that the product in manufactured in a facility that processes wheat. Plus, if you call manufacturers of a product to ask them if their product is gluten free they may not be able to give you a definitive yes answer becuase they may not be familiar with all of the ingredients obtained from 3rd party suppliers. But ...

Guess what?

It isn't just wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats!

It's corn too! Corn and anything made with or from corn may also be a problem for about 1/3rd of Celiacs. In several studies the gluten in corn created an unwanted response so ...

If you are one of the Celiacs in that 30% - 40% of unlucky folks that means no corn, corn flour, corn oil, corn syrup, corn starch nor anything containing those things or anything made from corn. In one small study 6 out of 13 patients realized a poor response to corn gluten, that is almost 1/2 of the patients in that study - Read here

That's the diet for Celiac Disease - NO gluten. And there is no other real treatment coming in the near future.

Big pharma is working diligently to produce some more toxic drugs for us Celiacs to take but when those come to market I will still opt for the diet route. Fresh veggies, grass fed beef, and true free range chicken, turkey, and wild fish won't kill you but FDA approved drugs are different story.

Important!

Is It Really Gluten Free?

When you purchase products to make recipies, eat for snacks or simply brush your teeth, only purchase GLUTEN FREE products. Before you buy anything check the label for "Gluten Free." If it isn't on the label there may be a reason for that, it probably is NOT gluten free. If you want to buy or use any product that is NOT labeled "Gluten Free" make sure you either check out that company and product either online or by telephone. Don't be afraid to ask for a confirmation letter!

CeliacAid

As a Celiac you have a life long commitment to a gluten free diet if you wish to heal your intestinal tract and avoid symptoms and unpleasant complications; however, adhering to a gluten free diet can be much easier said than done because gluten is everywhere! Gluten can be found in sauces, thickening and texture agents, flavors and certain combination and grilling spices. Unfortunately gluten is many times hidden and/or disguised using names many are not familiar with and I am not kidding. Cross contamination is also a real problem as is the dubious cooking practices of family, friends and restaurants. So ...

For a Celiac to be completely gluten free is a major task that is NOT easy and since it takes as little gluten as that which will fit on the head of a pin to cause a reaction and damage the intestinal tract it may be beneficial to try what could be termed as a Celiac's First-Aid Kit. Something quick and easy like CeliacAid which can be taken anytime you think you may have been glutenized.

CeliacAid works on gluten, in the stomach, to neutralize it BEFORE it reaches your intestines. Give it a try and see if it may help you however please be advised this is not a product that is meant to enable a Celiac to eat everything in site and does NOT take the place of a strict gluten free diet. CeliacAid is merely a line of defense to be used when you suspect you have been glutenized. It certainly couldn't hurt to keep some at home, the office, your car, your purse or some other handy place just in case.

CeliacAid GE-Glutenase Natural Gluten Digesting Enzyme 90 Capsules

Amazon Price: (as of 05/30/2012)

Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide- Expanded and Revised Edition by Shelley Case

Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide- Expanded and Revised Edition

by: Shelley Case

Amazon Price: $18.95 (as of 05/30/2012)

Gluten Free Peanut Butter

It's HARD to find!

Ok, I have mentioned earlier about cross contamination. Cross contamination becomes extremely important when it comes to the processing of foods because even peanuts (nuts of all kinds) which do NOT contain gluten become contaminated via processing. They are either coated in something that contains gluten, processed in plant that also process wheat, rye or barley or both. Some folks believe that if WHEAT doen't appear on the ingredients label you are safe. That is entirely incorrect. My mom and I have both become ill from eating peanuts (IN SHELLS!) that were processed in a plant that also processes wheat. It wasn't until recently I found a peanut butter that IS gluten free and here it is ...

Smart Balance All Natural Rich Roast Chunky Peanut Butter 16 oz

Amazon Price: $3.99 (as of 05/30/2012)

Unlike many gluten free products this one actually tastes GOOD!

Caution: Just because a peanut butter product say: Organic, Natural or a combination of both doesn't mean it is gluten free. Adams peanut butter is "All Natural" but made both my mom and I sick. I wrote to the company inquiring as to whether or not their peanut butter was gluten free. I never received a response. So you need to use caution.

Celiac Disease Information Resources

Here are some Celiac Disease information resources you can use to inform yourself about Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease and How to Live with Celiac Disease

All About Celiac Disease, Including the Cause, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Possible Complications, Treament and How to Live With Celiac Disease

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

The Cause of Celiac Disease

Unexplained Symptoms Could Be Celiac Disease and ...

Complicated or refractory Celiac Disease can lead to ...

Celiac Disease: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Medicine)

All About Celiac Disease - Video Presentations

CD is also known as Celiac Sprue

Celiac Disease: The Most Important Info About Celiac Disease Is:

Celiac Sprue Disease Symptoms

Symptoms of Celiac Disease vary ...

The Celiac Disease Diet

This is extremely important because ...

Is It Really Gluten Free?

CeliacAid

Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide- Expanded and Revised Edition by Shelley Case

Gluten Free Peanut Butter

It's HARD to find!

Celiac Disease Information Resources

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila! Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

Gluten-Free on a Shoestring:

125 Easy Recipes for Eating Well on the Cheap

Major Complications of Celiac Disease

Cancer, Liver Disease and Pancreatitis

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila! Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

100 Best Gluten-Free Recipes (100 Best Recipes)

Other Complications and Diseases Associated with Celiac Disease

Some are serious others just an annoyance

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila! Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

Kids with Celiac Disease

Did You Know Medications May Contain Gluten?

Check your meds for gluten

1

2

3

4

5

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila! Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.