October is Celiac Awareness Month
Posted by: Sara Hodge on: 2010-10-12 Permanent Link: October is Celiac Awareness Month
Ever wondered exactly what it means to have Celiac disease? Jayne Aston explains the myths and facts behind living gluten free.
By Jayne Aston
Because October is Celiac Awareness Month, I feel the need to explain all about Celiac. Let’s start with the basics.
Also known as coeliac disease celiac sprue, non-tropical sprue, Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disease in which the body reacts to gliadin (gluten protein). This reaction destroys the villi in the small intestine. The villi are finger-like protrusions in the small intestine that absorb the nutrients our bodies need from the food as it is processed.
When the villi are damaged, the body cannot absorb the necessary nutrients and becomes malnourished which can cause physical and neurological issues and in rare cases, death.
Although it is estimated that 1 in 133 people in North America have this disease, Celiac is difficult to spot because everyone has a different set of symptoms (and sometimes no symptoms at all). Moreover, some have symptoms in the early years and others develop them later in life (usually following some sort of trauma).
The list of symptoms for Celiac is a long one and I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have heard that Celiacs have had their symptoms misdiagnosed as other ailments such as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
If you have any of the following, you might have Celiac disease:
- Vitamin/mineral deficiencies such as A, B12, D, E K and iron.
- Abdominal pain/bloating/gas
- Diarrhea, constipation or both
- Oedema
- Elevated liver enzymes
- Irregular menstrual periods.
- Miscarriages
- Infertility
- Migraines
- Canker sores (mouth ulcers)
- Depression and in some cases symptoms of Bi-polar Disorder.
- Acid reflux/heartburn
- Brain fog
- Fatigue
- Nausea and vomiting
- Numbness
- Dizziness/loss of balance
- Osteoporosis
- Behavior changes
- Delayed growth in children
- Failure to thrive in infants
- Dermatitis Herpetiformis (An itchy, painful rash)
- Muscle cramps
- Pale, foul-smelling stool
- Tooth discolouration/enamel loss
- Malnutrition
(It is important to note that wheat allergy or gluten intolerance is NOT the same as Celiac disease. They do not affect the villi.)
There is no cure for Celiac disease, only a life long change in diet. Those with Celiac disease must live completely gluten free. For those of us who are extremely sensitive, this means that you cannot take chances with cross-contamination and even toiletries, soaps, makeup, hair dye, laundry detergents etc. must be checked for gluten.
There are those who think that Celiacs can “cheat” once in a while but this is completely false! Any amount of gluten ingested can make a Celiac extremely ill.
There are other diseases, syndromes and afflictions that are associated with Celiac but none of them causes Celiac and Celiac does not cause any of them. Because Celiac is an autoimmune disease, however, it does leave you open to other issues.
If you would like to learn more about Celiac disease you can find tons of information at the following sites:
http://www.celiac.ca
http://www.celiac.com
http://www.celiac.org
http://www.csaceliacs.org
http://www.americanceliac.org
http://www.cdhnf.org
http://www.celiachealth.org
http://glutenfreewithauntjayne.wordpress.com
http://celiacandwhat.wordpress.com
http://allerjay1.com
If you have Celiac disease, there are groups you can join to find support, information, advice, recipes etc.
http://www.glutenfreefaces.com
http://www.grou.ps/allergy_bloggers
http://www.glutenfreebloggers.com
As with any disease, early detection is your best bet for a full recovery of your villi.
There are blood tests that can tell you if you have high levels of anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTGA) or anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA). In order for the blood test to be accurate, the patient must not begin a gluten free diet.
An elimination diet can tell you if you are gluten sensitive but is inconclusive where a Celiac diagnosis is concerned.
I had an endoscopy for my diagnosis. When this is done, a biopsy is taken and there is no doubt about your diagnosis. Here again, the patient must be ingesting gluten prior to the test. If a gluten elimination diet has begun, the patient must start eating foods containing gluten again for at least 1 month prior to the test.
A diagnosis of Celiac disease should not be daunting, living gluten free is actually quite easy, once you learn how.
About Jayne Aston: “I am a 911 dispatcher for CFB Borden and I love my job. My 2 children and 4 step children are all grown up and I have 7 wonderful grandchildren. I live with the best man in the world who I have known since I was 14 years old. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease and type 2 diabetes in July of 2007 after almost 50 years of suffering. My first blog was born in 2007 and I have since started 2 more blogs and a social site for people with restricted/specialized diet.
Jayne has 3 blogs dedicated to allergies and Celiac disease, listed below:
http://glutenfreewithauntjayne.wordpress.com
http://celiacandwhat.wordpress.com
http://allerjay1.com
Comments? You know we love to hear from you. Click here to let us know what you think. (*Note: comments may be posted on this page, below the article)
Date: October 12
Name: Sara
Comment:
Thank you Jayne for contributing this fantastic article for us. My own husband was diagnosed with Celiac disease just one year ago, and it has been a difficult road at times. From the time we suspected he was Celiac until the time he was able to get in to see a specialist was a full year. During that time, although we suspected it was gluten causing his severe stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea and subsequent depression, he had to continue consuming gluten, for fear that stopping would skew the eventual test results. During the course of that year, my husband lost close to 50 pounds. He was so sickly, and so extremely unhappy as you can probably imagine. Numerous tests came back inconclusive until he finally had an endoscopy in November of 2009. The endoscopy revealed without a doubt that my husband’s villi were damaged. We saw a nutritionist and started the gluten free diet immediately, much to his relief. Since then, my husband has been “glutenized” by accident several times, and suffered for it terribly. I can vouch for the fact that any amount of gluten ingested can make a Celiac extremely ill. Now, a year later, my husband is getting closer to his old self, having gained back much of the weight he had previously lost. We are of course avoiding gluten (wheat, rye, barley and even some oats), which, at home is not difficult. In fact, it has been much simpler than we thought. The main challenge is eating out, especially when we are invited to dinner at friends’ houses. My husband feels very uncomfortable with asking our hosts to ensure their food is 100% gluten free, both because he feels awkward about it and because so few people really understand what “gluten free” means. It is astounding how many products contain wheat, from deli meats to canned soups and even ketchup, it is very difficult to avoid! We recently went to a party where a beautiful buffet lunch was set up with dozens of choices. My husband and I both surveyed every dish, and there wasn’t one thing he was able to eat. Even the salad already had dressing on it. Not knowing what was in it, and knowing the consequences of eating something questionable, he chose not to take a chance, and then sat back down at our table only to be asked by our lunchmates why he wasn’t eating. I can’t imagine how that must have felt, as the food smelled delicious and everyone else around us was clearly enjoying it. Usually there is at least one “safe” option, such as raw veggies, but everything at this party was glutenized. We learned our lesson and now pack safe snacks to take with us for occasions like that. Our hope is that more awareness will be raised over the coming years, and that more gluten free products and restaurants will become mainstream. Until then, we’ll wait patiently and turn down a lot of dinner invites! – Sara.
Date: Oct 12
Name: Vicki
Comment:
“Thanks for sharing this information, it was really helpful and informative! I recently went Gluten free, and created this blog: http://www.givingupgluten.wordpress.com. There are so many similarities in symptoms between Celiac and gluten intolerance!”
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