Definition & Facts for Celiac Disease
What is celiac disease?
Celiac disease is a digestive disorder that damages the small intestine. The disease is triggered by eating foods containing gluten. Gluten is a protein found naturally in wheat, barley, and rye, and is common in foods such as bread, pasta, cookies, and cakes. Many pre-packaged foods, lip balms and lipsticks, hair and skin products, toothpastes, vitamin and nutrient supplements, and, rarely, medicines, contain gluten.
Celiac disease can be very serious. The disease can cause long-lasting digestive problems and keep your body from getting all the nutrients it needs. Celiac disease can also affect the body outside the intestine.
Celiac disease is different from gluten sensitivity or wheat intolerance. If you have gluten sensitivity, you may have symptoms similar to those of celiac disease, such as abdominal pain and tiredness. Unlike celiac disease, gluten sensitivity does not damage the small intestine.
Celiac disease is also different from a wheat allergy. In both cases, your body’s immune systemreacts to wheat. However, some symptoms in wheat allergies, such as having itchy eyes or a hard time breathing, are different from celiac disease. Wheat allergies also do not cause long-term damage to the small intestine.1
How common is celiac disease?
As many as one in 141 Americans has celiac disease, although most don’t know it.2
Who is more likely to develop celiac disease?
Although celiac disease affects children and adults in all parts of the world, the disease is more common in Caucasians and more often diagnosed in females. You are more likely to develop celiac disease if someone in your family has the disease. Celiac disease also is more common among people with certain other diseases, such as Down syndrome , Turner syndrome , and type 1 diabetes.
What other health problems do people with celiac disease have?
If you have celiac disease, you also may be at risk for
- Addison’s disease
- Hashimoto’s disease
- primary biliary cirrhosis
- type 1 diabetes
What are the complications of celiac disease?
Long-term complications of celiac disease include
- malnutrition, a condition in which you don’t get enough vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients you need to be healthy
- accelerated osteoporosis or bone softening, known as osteomalacia
- nervous system problems
- problems related to reproduction
Rare complications can include
- intestinal cancer
- liver diseases
- lymphoma, a cancer of part of the immune system called the lymph system that includes the gut
In rare cases, you may continue to have trouble absorbing nutrients even though you have been following a strict gluten-free diet. If you have this condition, called refractory celiac disease, your intestines are severely damaged and can’t heal. You may need to receive nutrients through an IV.
References
June 2016
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