What is Celiac Disease?
Celiac Disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. What does this mean? Put simply, that the body is attacking itself!
Celiac disease is triggered by consumption of the protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye.
When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the fingerlike villi of the small intestine. When the villi become damaged, the body is unable to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, which can lead to malnourishment.
Researchers have determined that celiac disease is a genetic condition, meaning that it is inherited. In some cases, celiac becomes active or is triggered by events such as surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress.
Roughly one out of every 133 Americans has celiac disease, but 97% remain undiagnosed. This means that almost three million Americans have celiac disease and only about 100,000 know they have it.
Left untreated, people with celiac disease can develop further complications such as other autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and cancer.
There are a number of medical problems that are associated with undiagnosed celiac disease including cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes Type 1, thyroid problems and reproductive health issues.
From the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness at http://www.celiaccentral.org/What_is_Celiac_/13/:
