Could It Be Celiac Disease?

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October is Celiac Awareness Month which brings awareness to people who are battling celiac disease, or sometimes called celiac spue.  Celiac disease is a hereditary, auto immune disorder, and it’s estimated at 1%, or 3 million in the US (1 in 100), of the human population has it.   The only way to treat this disease is to remove gluten entirely from your diet.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley.  If you eat a balanced diet of unprocessed foods, keeping gluten out of the diet can be rather simple.  But unfortunately, many products found on the grocery store shelves contain gluten.  And there are other grains such as semolina, spelt, and tricale that contain gluten, so you would need to avoid those as well. Oats are well-known to be contaminated with gluten; therefore it should be avoided as well.  One speck or 1/8 tsp. a day of gluten will keep a person in a diseased state.  

There are many symptoms for a gluten allergy such as:

 

·         Fatigue ·         Cramping ·         Bloating ·         Abdominal pain ·         Irritable bowel syndrome ·         Nutritional deficiencies ·         Mouth ulcers ·         Depression ·         Anxiety

·         Migraines ·         MS ·         Headaches ·         Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ·         Autism ·         ADHD ·         Inability to Concentrate ·         Failure to Thrive in Children ·         Developmental Delay ·         Clumsiness ·         Loss of Coordination in Upper         and Lower Limbs

Gluten can cause a person to experience all kinds of neurological symptoms, yet never experience any gastrointestinal symptoms.  That is because gluten can penetrate the gut lining and go into the bloodstream.  Once in the bloodstream, it can travel to the brain where it can disrupt cells or cause inflammation.  

I watched a program on television called, “Your Health with Dr. Richard and Cindy Baker,” that talked in length about celiac disease.  When you think you have a disease, many times there are symptoms to prompt you there is something wrong.  With celiac disease, it has been found that 97% of people who suffer with this disease do not even know they have it because many times it is misdiagnosed or the person is asymptomatic, meaning he does not experience any symptoms as all.  And the 3%, who have been diagnosed with celiac, usually get a diagnosis 8-9 years after the symptoms began.

Celiac is genetic, and it is considered an auto-immune disease. 

 

Many people can carry the gene that causes celiac disease, but never get the disease.  Only about 4% with genetic susceptibility actually get celiac, and the onset of the disease can be at any age. If you are diagnosed with celiac, your immediate family (brother, sister, mother, father, child) has a 1 in 4 chance of also having the disease.  Just because you have the gene for it doesn’t mean you will get it.  Something in the environment triggers it—stress, diet, viral or bacterial infections, and the symptoms can range from mild to severe. 

Now do you see why celiac disease is so hard to diagnose?

Many people, such as myself, are gluten intolerant; meaning our body does not experience an allergic reaction, per se, to the gluten, and our intestinal wall is not permanently damaged, but we show symptoms similar to celiac.

The show provided a very through point-system questionnaire to complete that may provide you with some clarity about symptoms you may been experiencing:

 

Give yourself 1 point for you or ½ point if it is a relative As a child, did you:  __ Direct relative has Celiac Disease __ Stunted Growth, Always Small __ Delayed Puberty __ Multiple Cavities __Poor Coordination/Epilepsy __Allergic Dermatitis  Give yourself 4 pts.  Do you currently: __ Auto-Immune Condition __Dermatitis Herpetiformis __Lupus __ MS  11% of MS patients actually have gluten sensitive anthropopathy.  Both conditions   cause  little white spots on the brains, and when brain is looked at with the MRI, they   look exactly the same. __ Psoriasis __ Rheumatoid Arthritis __ Sjorgens Disease __ Thyroid Disease __ Type 1 Diabetes __Vitiligo __ Chronic Diarrhea __Cirrhosis/High Liver Enzymes __ Food Allergies __ Irritable Bowel __ Lactose Intolerant __ Anemia __Vitamin Deficiencies (Vit. A, B, E, K, and Folate) __ Peripheral Neuropathy __ Restless Leg Syndrome __ Venous Thrombosis __ Dental Enamel Defects __  Recurrent Aphthous Ulcers (Canker Sores) __Autism __ADHD __ Schizophrenia __ Unusual Neurological Conditions __ Osteoporosis __ Unexplained Fertility Issues __ Cataracts __ Atrial Fibrillation __Abnormal Hair Loss __ Had Lymphoma Count up your score.  If you have 4 or more points, you may have celiac or have a genetic susceptibility for celiac.  __________ Score

So you scored 4 or more points on the survey, now what do you do? 

You can call you doctor to schedule a blood test.  Testing is fairly simple and involves screening the patient’s blood for antigliadin (AGA) and endomysiumantibodies (EmA), and/or doing a biopsy on the areas of the intestines mentioned above, which is still the standard for a formal diagnosis. The biopsy is the gold standard to confirm the villi in the intestine are blunted. (www.celiac.com)

Unfortunately, for those of us (like myself), who decided to remove gluten from their diets prior to being tested for celiac, typically received a negative result on the blood test.  Currently, I am diagnosed with gluten intolerance.  The thought of me having to introduce gluten back into my diet for 6 weeks in order to be tested again and possibly get a positive result is not on my agenda.  I know how I feel on a gluten free diet therefore, it confirms it for me. But some people choose to investigate further to determine whether or not an individual carries the gene responsible for the development of celiac disease via another blood test. You will just need to discuss it with your doctor.

Now, if you have confirmed a diagnosis of celiac or just decide to remove gluten from your diet to see if you feel a difference, you need to know that a response to being gluten free can take months depending on the damage done to the body.  After a week or so off of gluten, I feel much better. I am not as lethargic, bloated, or foggy headed anymore; and the chronic pain in my upper abdominal and joint point is non-existent. I find that I have more energy, less cravings for gluten foods, such as breads and cookies, as I had prior to removing gluten from my diet.   

I feel 100% better.