Celiac disease afflicts an estimated 1 in every 3,000 individuals in US. When a person who has celiac disease consumes gluten, a protein found in wheat, oats, rye and barley, the individual’s immune system responds by attacking the small intestine and inhibiting the absorption of important nutrients into the body.
Studies show that any people with celiac disease continue to et gluten, either by choice or unknowingly. Classical celiac disease can occur in adults but more typically begins in early childhood. It is characterized by symptoms that arise from damaged the small intestine.
The affected person has bloating and discomfort and diarrhea. Also, because the damaged bowel becomes unable to properly absorb nutrients in the body, the individual with classical celiac disease starts to break of his or her own some tissues to provide nutrients to supply energy for the body’s normal functioning.
Sometimes, people have celiac disease but don’t experience gastrointestinal symptoms. Nowadays doctors know that many people with celiac disease have symptoms in part of the body other than intestines; they many have no or only mild gastrointestinal symptoms.
These atypical symptoms are often caused by the lack of one or more nutrients due to the malabsorption of food resulting from damage to the small intestines.
Research has demonstrated that a significant percentage of children and adults with positive blood tests had no, or minimal, symptoms when they were tested.
Symptoms of celiac disease
