Celiac Disease Can Cause Malnutrition

Celiac disease is a condition of the digestive tract that impairs the body's ability to absorb essential nutrients from food and can cause malnutrition. People with symptoms of celiac disease should consult their doctor for diagnoses and consult a professional nutritionist, who can help them eliminate gluten from their diet.

Celiac disease, also known as gluten sensitivity, is sensitivity to gluten that impairs the body's ability to absorb nutrients. The condition may be difficult to diagnose because many of the symptoms are general any can have other causes.

Celiac disease is a condition of the digestive tract, in which the villi in the small intestine become damaged, interfering with the absorption of nutrients from food. Villi are tiny protrusions lining the small intestines. The job of the villi is to absorb nutrients from food and nourish the bloodstream for the body to use, When the villi are damaged, they cannot function properly and that can cause a person to become malnourished, no matter how much food they eat

In the person with celiac disease the villi are damaged by foods that contain gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. Gluten is a common ingredient in many foods. Gluten is obviously in breads and pasta, but is also contained in less obvious products, such as vitamin and medicines.

The symptoms of celiac disease are general complaints, which may also have other causes. Some of the most common symptoms include intermittent diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating, vomiting, constipation; foul smelling or fatty stool and weight loss.

Adults may also have symptoms which do not seem to be related to the digestive symptom, such as anemia, fatigue, arthritis, osteoporosis, depression, anxiety, seizures, skin rash, missed menstrual periods, infertility and canker sores.

Malnutrition is a long term complication of celiac disease, since the body is not getting essential nutrition, even through the diet seems adequate. The long term effects of malnutrition include anemia, osteoporosis, liver disease, miscarriages and intestinal cancers.

Celiac disease can be difficult to recognize because some of its symptoms mimic other conditions. Celiac disease can be confused with anemia, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal infections, diverticulitis and chronic fatigue syndrome. Because it can be confused with other conditions, celiac disease is believed to be an under diagnosed condition.

Diagnostic tests for celiac disease include specific blood tests and an intestinal biopsy. Talk to your doctor if you are concerned about symptoms of celiac disease.

According the National Institute of Health (NIH) the only treatment for celiac disease is a diet that is gluten free. A dietitian can help a newly diagnosed patient to work out a gluten free diet plan.

Dietitians are medical professionals that specialize in food and nutrition. A dietitian can help you identify sources of gluten, and teach you to read ingredient lists in the grocery story. According to the NIH, the gluten free diet will stop symptoms in most people within days. The small intestine may take from several months to several years to heal. Once the small intestine is healed; the villi are able to do their job of absorbing nutrients from food.

Unfortunately for bread lovers, people with celiac disease must avoid gluten for the remainder of their lives.

The gluten free diet avoids any food made from grin, pasta, cereal and processed food. People on a gluten free diet can still eat a well balanced with a variety of foods. Foods that people with celiac disease can eat freely include meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and rice. The NIH has a food table of allowed foods for people who need to avoid gluten.

Information in this article is not intended as medical advice. If you have a medical condition, please consult a physician.

Resources:

Mayo Clinic website

National Institute of Health

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