10 Signs & Symptoms of Celiac Disease

Celiac disease, sometimes called 'sprue', is an immune disorder in which the body (specifically the intestines) have an abnormal response to gluten consumption. Therefore, this disease is also defined as a gluten-sensitive enteropathy. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, so when a celiac person eats any of these foods they present the typical symptoms of the disease. It is very important to know that celiac disease can be difficult to diagnose because not all the people who suffer from it have the same symptoms or the same way of presentation. In fact, it has been demonstrated that some people can develop celiac disease since childhood while others only show the symptoms when they are adults. There are more than 200 symptoms that can be loosely related to celiac disease, partly due to the fact that the small intestine cannot digest food and absorb some essential nutrients properly. So, the patient may have health problems in many systems and organs around the body. However, there are 10 symptoms are more frequent than others and that is what we'll be covering in this article. These include: 1 Abdominal pain. Although abdominal pain is a frequent symptom of celiac disease, each patient refers to pain with different characteristics. Some patients say that they feel "like a knife stab" in the lower abdomen, while others just refer bloating and discomfort. Also the same person can experience different types of pain in each stage of the disease. The patient usually refers discomfort in the early stages and severe pain in the advanced stages. More symptoms on next page... 2 Anemia. Anemia appears due to the iron-deficiency produced by the abnormal absorption of this nutrient in the intestine. Chronic anemia can be the only clinical manifestation of celiac disease in some people. It is very common to find it in newly diagnosed celiac disease, but it may also persist for some months after starting a gluten-free diet. 3 Osteoporosis or osteomalacia. Osteoporosis can be defined as an important loss of bone mass, which makes them less dense and more prone to suffer a fracture. In celiac disease, osteoporosis is produced by the insufficient absorption of calcium. So, it is very common when in patients that are untreated. On the other hand, osteomalacia is due to the decreased absorption of vitamin D by the small intestine. The symptoms of this disease are more common in children because it alters the normal development of the bones. Osteomalacia is clinically expressed as skeletal deformities (like a very evident valgus deformity of the legs), progressive limping and short stature. Both osteoporosis and osteomalacia explain why a delayed growth may be closely related to celiac disease. 4 Mouth ulcers. The immune system's abnormal response to gluten can also affect the mucous membrane of the mouth, producing ulcers. The mouth ulcers or sores produced by celiac disease are very similar to the commonly called canker sores or aphthous stomatitis. 5 Skin rash. In many cases, celiac disease is related to the development of dermatitis herpetiformis, which is a dermatological disease that produces an itchy and blistering rash. Patients usually refer a moderate to severe burning sensation in flexure zones (like the elbows and knees), scalp, buttocks and back. This symptom is more frequent in male adolescents, and it tends to disappear when the patient adopts a gluten-free diet. 6 Chronic diarrhea and steatorrhea. This is a very frequent symptom, and although it has been demonstrated that the severity of this symptom is related to the gluten intake, it can also persist even after adopting a gluten-free diet and other changes in the patient's lifestyle. Steatorrhea is also a very common symptom. It can be defined as an excess of fat in the feces, which produces bulkier stools, which are pale and foul-smelling. Likewise, the feces tend to float in the water because they contain a large amount of gas. 7 Weight loss. This symptom can be caused by both celiac disease and its treatment. As it was said before, the disease causes malabsorption and a deficit of important nutrients in the body. Likewise, as the treatment of the disease consists of eating a gluten-free diet, the patient can lose weight because they will avoid many kinds of food (specially carbs like pasta and bread), which are associated with gaining weight. 8 Fatigue and headaches. These symptoms are basically due to the lack of important nutrients in the body. Although the fatigue can be caused by many conditions, chronic tiredness is closely related to anemia and celiac disease. A headache is also a very non-specific symptom because it can be caused by many conditions, but some patients with undiagnosed celiac disease refer it constantly. 9 Nervous system injury. The neurological symptoms related to celiac disease are frequently caused by the decreased nutrient absorption, which causes many deficiency syndromes that can be expressed since the beginning of the disease. The neurological symptoms tend to get worse as the disease advances. Among the most common neurological symptoms associated with the disease are ataxia, moderate dementia, seizure disorder and the different neuropathies. Likewise, some psychiatric symptoms (like frequent mood or behavior changes) have also been associated. 10 No symptoms. This condition is also called silent celiac disease or asymptomatic celiac disease because the patient has no evident symptoms, but will still have intestinal damage (specifically villous atrophy), so are still at risk of developing serious complications if they don't adopt a gluten-free diet. This makes it very difficult to diagnose and, in most cases, the patient is only diagnosed when they have a complication of the disease that cannot be explained by any other cause. All the acute symptoms (like abdominal pain and distension) get worse after eating gluten. For example, when eating bread, pasta, and pastries. However, the chronic symptoms do not have very evident variations in their intensity. Likewise, external factors can also vary the symptoms' severity and age of onset. Among these factors, the following can be included: how long the patient was breast-fed as an infant, the age when the person started to eat gluten, the amount of gluten that they eat and the severity of intestinal damage. The best treatment for celiac disease is a gluten-free diet for life. It allows control of both acute and chronic symptoms in patients of all ages.

4 Mouth ulcers

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