Skip to main content

Celiac Disease

Image
By
Celiac Disease, also known as “wheat allergy”, is being increasingly diagnosed and coming into focus because of its deleterious effects on several aspects of health.

What is Celiac Disease? Celiac Disease (CD) is a condition in which the body reacts to a protein, called gluten, present in wheat and wheat products. As the point of contact with ingested gluten occurs in the small intestine, it is here that the major immunological damage occurs, resulting in impaired digestion of food and absorption of nutrients.

How common is it?

With increasing awareness, CD is being diagnosed with frequently. Experts estimate that up to 1% of the wheat eating population may have CD.

In whom does it occur and how does one suspect CD?

There are 2 forms of CD: the childhood form and the adult form.
The childhood form presents after a few months or years of weaning and introduction to wheat based foods, and manifests as loose motions, weakness, stunted growth and failure to thrive.
The adult form manifests in several ways: frequent loose motions, short stature or stunting, iron deficiency anaemia, weak bones, low levels of iron or calcium in the blood, frequent spasms of fingers or toes, cramps, diabetes in early age or liver disorder. Some may also present to the dermatologist with scratchy skin lesions.

How is the diagnosis of CD made?

A high index of suspicion is needed. A simple blood test called tissue trans-glutaminase (TTG) or Anti-endomyceal antibody is usually positive. An endoscopic examination during which a biopsy is obtained from the duodenum (upper part of small intestine) helps in confirming the diagnosis as well as in grading the disease, that is, tells how severe the intestinal damage is.
Which adults should undergo screening tests for CD?

Any person with frequent bowel upsets, loose stools, short stature, anaemia, weak bones or muscles, abnormal liver function tests, diabetes in early age, or an itchy skin condition called dermatitis herpetiformis should undergo evaluation. Also, blood relations of a patient with CD should be screened as CD tends to run in families.

Is it a treatable condition?

If diagnosed early, patients with CD can attain and maintain perfectly normal health. They need to be on a gluten free diet all through their lives. On stopping wheat and other food items that contain gluten, they show remarkable clinical improvement with rapid weight gain and correction of malabsorption and disordered metabolism. Some patients with a severe form of the disease need medications that suppress their deranged immune system. Supplements of iron and calcium are often required. Patients of untreated CD run the risk of developing cancer of the small intestine.

As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 7th April, 2013
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Food Fads in Liver Disorders

By
In an attempt at trying to do well to those they love, spouses and parents often enforce diets on patients of liver diseases that often turn out to be detrimental. The commonest food fad is pale insipid boiled cabbage being doled out to nauseous patients suffering from hepatitis that makes them puke even more.  The liver, in a way, is a buzzing manufacturing unit that requires lots of energy to keep its multiple functions going. And it derives all this from the food we eat. During disease, such as during an attack of jaundice, when many of the liver cells get killed, the liver attemptsdamage control by trying to regenerate quickly. For its cells to multiply however, it requires a generous supply of energy that comes from carbohydrates, and protein, the building block for its cells and tissues. Boiled green vegetables unfortunately have neither of these. Hence the situation often progresses to that of a starved liver unable to recuperate due to cut-off food suppl...
2 comments
Read more

How do you like your Tea?

By
The way we drink our tea may not only reflect our taste and style, but our health as well. Tea drinking is around 4700 years old and had its origin in China. Leaves of the shrub Camellia sinensis (tea plant) were in use at that time as a remedy for wounds and diseases. With the legendary emperor Shenong brewing and drinking its extracts, tea drinking became a popular habit in this part of the world. The British, impressed with the brew and the customs that go with drinking it in China and Japan, tried to emulate and evolve a tea-drinking custom of their own, and soon “tea-time”became a familiar term across the globe. Every home or cafe seems to have its own flavour. The north Indian variety of “chay” is a glass of hot creamy milk (more cream as it gets more “special”) with lots of sugar and a lacing of  “tea liquor” of strong tea that grows on lower heights (Assam, Nilgiri, Sri Lanka etc). In contrast, the Chinese and Japanese prefer light green or jasmine tea without a drop of mi...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Doctor’s Dress

By
The familiar white coat worn by physicians as their distinctive dress for over 100 years, has started generating  murmurs  of controversy. It is not uncommon to find the blood pressure to be higher when measured by a white-coat-wearing-doctor in the hospital or clinic than the readings obtained at home by relatives.  This is due to the anxiety that the white coat and the hospital setting evokes in patients, and has been termed “White Coat Hypertension”. Mature clinicians often routinely subtract a few points from these measurements when entering records in case charts or calculating the dose of anti-hypertensive medications to be prescribed. The white coat scares children too.  Kids often express their dislike for this dress by crying and screaming and by denying access to their bellies or chest for examination by paediatricians in this attire. Many pediatricians across the world have folded up their white coats and taken to informal colourful dressing to...
2 comments
Read more