Many people worldwide are affected by celiac disease, a chronic autoimmune disorder, yet it remains undiagnosed due to its subtlety and variety of symptoms. It is crucial to understand the disease to treat it effectively and manage the symptoms under professional care. Primarily triggered by consuming gluten, celiac disease symptoms require proper diagnosis to confirm the disease. If you suspect that you or any of your loved ones is suffering from celiac disease, this blog will help you understand this disease by addressing the symptoms with timely care. In the effective management of celiac disease, a life-long gluten-free diet can be recommended by your healthcare provider along with other lifestyle management.
Also Read: From Fatty Liver to Cirrhosis: How to Stop Liver Damage in Its Track?
An Overview of Celiac Disease
Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in your small intestine, triggered by gluten, a protein found in many staple foods. When you consume gluten, it causes an abnormal response from your immune system attacking gluten in your digestive system, causing inflammation. It affects the small intestine’s lining, damaging the villi, the fingerlike projections that promote nutrient absorption. This makes it harder for the villi to absorb nutrients, leading to malnutrition and a host of other health problems. Certain grains like wheat, barley, and rye have gluten in them. The grains make up regular foods like bread, pasta, cereals, and beer, which are especially part of the standard Western diet. This is the predominant trigger of celiac disease, affecting the small intestine, where most of our nutrition is absorbed. If left untreated, it can cause severe damage to your small intestine. Especially when children develop celiac disease, it can cause developmental delay in them.
Symptoms of Celiac Disease
The symptoms of Celiac disease vary from one individual to another, leading to difficulty in diagnosis. While some people experience digestion issues after eating gluten, others begin to see signs of nutrient deficiencies later on when real damage is done. The symptoms can range from digestive problems to more systemic issues, including:
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Gastrointestinal or Digestive Issues:Experiencing troubles with the GI tract is a major symptom of celiac disease. You might experience changes in bowel movement due to chronic diarrhoea and constipation, bloating, gas or abdominal pain, or cramps. Additionally, celiac disease can lead to nausea or vomiting and pale, foul-smelling or greasy stool pr steatorrhoea.
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Iron-deficiency:Anaemia is the first symptom to notice in severe celiac disease due to iron-deficiency in the body. It can be a silent and salient sign of celiac disease, leading to paleness, caused by malabsorption of nutrients in the small intestine. This leads you to feel extreme tiredness, cold hands and indented or concave nails due to insufficient blood supply.
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Skin Issues: Studies suggest that around 15% of people with celiac disease can develop a dermatological condition called dermatitis herpatiformis characterised by intensely itchy blistering rashes, often on elbows, knees, buttocks, and scalp.
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Neurological Signs: Celiac disease also often cause neurologcal sumptoms such as headaches, migraines, and peripheral neuropathy that causes tingling and numbness in the hands or feet. You can also experience difficulty in maintaining balance and coordination as a symptom of this autoimmune disorder.
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Symptoms in Children: In children, the symptoms of celiac disease can be serious, such as malabsorption and malnutrition, affecting their healthy growth and delay. When they start solid foods with gluten, like crackers or cereal btween the first 8 to 12 months of their childhood, healthcare providers track the signs of this disease in them. Celiac disease can lead to developmental delay, such as issues with weight and height, delayed puberty and irritability.
- Other Symptoms: Individuals with celiac disease can experience unexplained weight loss, bone or joint pain, erosion of tooth enamel, trouble getting pregnant, abnormal periods, depression, or anxiety.
How Celiac Disease is Tested
Due to subtle symptoms, celiac disease is often hard to diagnose. However, healthcare professionals perform some blood tests to look for evidence of the damage caused by celiac disease. The testing includes:
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Blood Test: To diagnose celiac disease, the healthcare professional performs serology tests. They involve primary screenings to look for high levels of tTG-IgA antibodies.
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Genetic Testing: The doctors test for human leukocyte antigens like HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 that can help rule out Celiac disease if absent.
- Endoscopy: Another way to diagnose celiac disease in small intestinal biopsy or endoscopy. Doctors perform this procedure by inserting an endoscope, a thin catheter with a small camera attached to its head, through your intestinal lining. This accesses the small intestine and collects tissues for biopsy for damage analysis. This is considered one of the determining methods for confirmation.
Learn How Celiac Disease is Managed
The first and foremost step of managing celiac disease is quitting gluten intake. Gluten is the primary and main cause of celiac disease, and you can not change the way your immune system responds to gluten. But you can prevent gluten from triggering the reaction and worsening the condition. When you stop eating foods that contain gluten, your small intestine begins to heal and soon becomes able to absorb nutrients. But restricting gluten for a lifetime is the key solution for this disease.
Here are some ways that can help you manage celiac disease effectively:
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Restrict Gluten: Eliminate foods that contain gluten, such as barley, rye, and derivatives like spelt, semolina, and malt. Even a small amount of gluten can trigger celiac disease symptoms, causing intestinal damage.
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Read Label Carefully:Before buying or using packaged foods, check all the ingredients properly to avoid hidden gluten sources like sauces, processed meat, soups and even some medicines.
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Switch to Naturally Safe Foods: Maintain your healthy diet by including fresh fruits, meat, fish, egg, dairy products unless you are lactose intolerant, potatoes, rice, corn, quinoa and gluten-free oats, which are pure and certified.
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Consider Nutritional Supplements:Celiac disease causes nutritional deficiency in the body. Make sure you address common deficiencies like iron, vitamin B, calcium, zinc, and fibre with prescribed supplements by your doctors. This way, you can help your gut to heal and restore nutrient absorption.
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Be Watchful of Cross-Contamination: When you have celiac disease, be aware of secondary sources of gluten. To ensure a complete gluten-free life, use separate toasters, cutting boards and utensils. Especially be cautious about the restaurant foods, even if they are labelled gluten-free.
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Follow-Up Regularly:To manage celiac disease effectively, work closely with yur dietitian and a gastroenterologist for guidance on a balanced gluten-free diet (GFD). Make sure you visit the doctor regularly, as the professionals will monitor for healing and look for complications through blood tests and potential repeated biopsies.
You might be prescrbed with costcosteoids for severe inflammation that’s not responding fast enough to what you are eating and dapsone for the skin condition called dermatitis herperformitis (DH) caused by celiac disease. Follow your prescribed medications regularly along with strict GFD as per your doctor’s recommendation.
Final Words,
Being diagnosed with celiac disease can change your life forever. Although it may seem hard at the beginning, this change can lead you to a better and healthier life. Completely quitting the foods that contain gluten, the main trigger of the disease, is crucial to managing the effects of celiac disease. With professional guidance, it will be easier for you to take control of your health and navigate through celiac disease. Get yourself tested, and consult a prominent gastroenterologist in Siliguri, Dr. Pinakee Sunder Kar, for optimal care and management.
