Celiac Disease continues to get featured in more high profile places. The most recent is Kentucky.com, who has posted that Celiac Disease is a growing problem.
I’m not sure I would classify it as a growing problem, but I think there is a problem with people having the disease and not knowing it. Here is an excerpt from their post:
According to everything I’ve read, celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in the small intestine that is aggravated by gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley.
But after talking to Jan Falwell, who suffered unknowingly with celiac disease most of her life, I soon learned there is far more to it.
Falwell thinks she’s had the disease for more than 40 years, probably triggered by mononucleosis when she was 18.
”About 50 to 60 percent of the population has the gene“ that causes the ailment, she said, ”but there usually has to be a trigger like an operation or stress or pregnancy.“
Falwell, 60, was fortunate to be diagnosed three years ago by an Irish physician practicing locally who recognized the symptoms because he was familiar with the disease.
The disease is diagnosed more frequently in Europe. Children in Italy must undergo a test for the disease before entering school, she said.
But in the United States, she said, doctors aren’t taught how to recognize the symptoms. Plus, the symptoms are many, varying from one patient to another.
Where there is weight loss and diarrhea for one patient, another will have weight gain and constipation. Other symptoms are gas and bloating, fatigue, dryness throughout the body, weakness, headaches, vomiting and a failure to grow in children, to name a few.
Celiac disease is often misdiagnosed as food intolerance or irritable bowel syndrome. Doctors can order blood tests to check for certain antibodies that signal the disease, but Falwell said the disease usually is advanced by the time it can be detected in the blood. A positive blood test could then lead to an endoscopy and biopsy for confirmation.
Long-term health problems such as iron deficiency anemia, osteoporosis, vitamin deficiencies, intestinal cancers, and diabetes can result if left untreated.
”It wipes out the villi in the small intestines,“ Falwell said. ”Mine looks like flat linoleum instead of a shag rug.“
It is through the villi that the body absorbs nutrients. Once nutrients are no longer absorbed, myriad physical problems can occur.
Pharmaceutical companies are starting to show interest in the disease, and a new pill that helps prevent the leakage of gluten into the small intestines is being tested.
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