So, what the heck is Celiac Disease? (Part 2)

Now that we know what gluten is, let's talk about what it does to someone with C.D. when they eat it.

Gluten causes an immune reaction in genetically susceptible people and causes damage to the small intestine when it is ingested into the body. This causes the abnormal absorption of nutrients into the body. In your small intestine there are these little, finger-like appendages sticking up that help in the absorption of nutrients. When someone with C.D. eats gluten your immune system attacks the gluten and harms your small intestine, causing "blunting" of the villi.

On the left is a picture of healthy villi. On the right is a picture of blunted villi. (I have seen pictures of blunted villi where the small intestine is completely smooth, which can happen in severe cases of C.D.)

I want to clear up that Celiac Disease is NOT another name for a wheat allergy or gluten intolerance. Here are the differences:

1) Celiac Disease is an immune mediated disease that effects approximately 1% of the U.S. population, which is 2-3 million people or 1 out of every 133 people. Out of these people, 85% of them have yet to be diagnosed.

2) Wheat allergy affects about 10% of food allergy sufferers. A wheat allergy is rarely an allergy to gluten and is more often an allergy to other proteins found in wheat.

3) Gluten sensitivity/intolerance is not a gluten allergy. People with gluten sensitivity/intolerance only develop symptoms after ingesting gluten.

Celiac Disease can occur at all ages but is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 60. One of the myths related to C.D. is that it only occurs in people of European origin. This is not true. C.D. has been found to occur in people of all races, but is very rare in people of Japanese origin due to their diet. Genetics play a key role in who gets C.D. This means that if one person in a family has it, at least one other person does, too.

Celiac Disease is a lot more common than people think, but because the symptoms of C.D. are so vast it is often mistaken for other illnesses such as IBS. Because of better education and more research, more people are being diagnosed every day.