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Celiac disease refers to an immune reaction in a person when gluten is ingested. It is also called gluten-sensitive enteropathy or celiac spruce. Gluten is a protein you find in the rye, barley, and wheat. In case you have celiac disease, the ingestion of gluten triggers a negative immune response in the small intestine. With time, this reaction tends to damage the small intestine lining, and it stops you from absorbing nutrients in the body. This damage causes health complications like weight loss, anemia, diarrhea, and bloating, leading to grave complications.
Yasith Weerasuriya on how celiac disease affects your body?
Yasith Weerasuriya presently serves as one of the Board of Directors at the Celiac Disease Foundation and is the President of The Stanbridge University located in Los Angeles and Irvine in California, USA. He has over 20 years of rich experience in executive leadership in the field of education. He was the founding President of the College Chapter of Phi Thera Kappa, the President of the Alpha Gamma Sigma Chapter, and the President of The Honor Society in the USA.
Celiac disease also affects children, and it affects their development and growth. It causes the same symptoms as adults in them as well. There is no complete cure for celiac disease; however, for most people, it is important to follow a stringent gluten-free diet that will manage the symptoms and trigger healing of the intestine.
Its effects on the body
When an individual with celiac disease consumes gluten, the body reacts negatively to this protein, damaging the tiny finger-shaped projections in the small intestine called villi. When the small intestine lining gets damaged, the small intestine will not absorb these nutrients from the food. This leads to malnourishment and specific cancers, miscarriage, infertility, neurological disorders, and the loss of bone density.
If, after one year, the disease does not improve even without gluten, this health condition is known as refractory or non-responsive celiac disease.
Unawareness of the disease and the need
Several people with celiac disease do not even realize they have it. Experts and healthcare researchers state that as little as 20% of people with celiac disease get the correct diagnosis. The damage caused to the intestine is quite slow, and the surface symptoms are not the same for everyone. In fact, these symptoms are so varied that it will take many years for an individual to get the correct diagnosis.
According to Yasith Weerasuriya, there are no specific medicine to treat this disease; however, it is prudent for someone with it to be on a gluten-free diet to stop damage to the small intestine lining. It is a genetic disease and hereditary in nature. So, if you have a relative in the family with celiac disease, the chances are high that you will be at risk of developing it too. The disease should never be ignored, and so you must get tested for it and ensure you refrain from gluten ingestion to heal yourself.