Origin of the name/history of the disease
The name celiac comes from
“coeliac” which is derived from the Greek Koilia, which means belly. The
“coeliac flux” is an old expression meaning the same as diarrhea. The disease
celiac is not just diarrhea though it just means that the disease pertains to
the abdomen.
The celiac disease comes from early farmers and hunters. But
because the wheat and grain of the crops and fields did not have high levels of
gluten they were not exposed to the disease very often. Those who were infected
would contract other diseases due to excessive defense. The disease did not hit
hard until industrial quantities of gluten were introduced. The disease usually
affects children at birth so you would think the disease would just die off.
Wrong. The hinters and farmers developed an excessive defense to the disease.
The defense would focus on the disease, which would make the person affected
susceptible to other viruses. Also, breast-feeding preserves some children from
the disease. The antibodies from the milk help fight the infections.
Loci of the gene/populations at risk/how common
Celiac has been
mapped to the major histocompatibillity on chromosome 6.
Celiac mostly
affects people of European descent and rarely affects blacks or Asians. It
affects infants and can kill them at birth due to infections, malnutrition, and
malabsorption. Those affected suffer damage to the villi in certain regions of
the intestines. Sometimes the disease becomes triggered after surgery,
pregnancy, childbirth, v infection or severe emotional stress. The longer
someone was breastfed the later the symptoms appear.
Celiac is the most
common disease in Europe. In Italy 1 in 250 people have celiac and in Ireland
about 1 in 300 people have it. About 1 in 4,700 people in America have Celiac.
This is uncommon since Americans are descendants of Europeans. Red Cross had a
recent study in which they took random blood samples and tested them for Celiac.
The study suggested that 1 in 250 Americans have celiac, which shows that
Americans are extremely under diagnosed.
Phenotypes/diagnosing the
disorder
There are such a vast variety of symptoms in celiac that it can
be very hard to diagnose. Symptoms may or may not be in the abdomen. One person
can have diarrhea or abdominal pain while another has irritability and
depression. Irritability is the most common symptom in children. Some symptoms
of the disease are:
Ø Recurring abdominal bloating and pain
Ø Chronic
Diarrhea
Ø Weight loss
Ø Pale foul smelling stool
Ø Unexplained low
red blood cell count
Ø Gas
Ø Bone pain
Ø Behavior changes
Ø
Muscle cramps
Ø Fatigue
Ø Delayed growth
Ø Failure to thrive as an
infant
Ø Pain in the joints
Ø Seizures
Ø Tingling numbness in the
legs
Ø Ulcers in the mouth
Ø Skin rash called dermatitis hepetiformis
Ø Tooth discolorations or loss of enamel
Ø Missed menstrual periods
Celiac disease symptoms are similar to those of other diseases such as
irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulosis,
intestine infections, chronic fatigue syndrome, and depression. This makes the
disease hard to diagnose. There are only a handful of laboratories able to test
for celiac and some doctors don’t even know about the disease. Recent
researchers have found that people with celiac disease have high levels of
certain antibodies to gluten such as antigliadin, anti-endomysium, and
antireticulum. Doctors test for celiac by testing the levels of these
antibodies. If the test shows they have the disease doctors must perform a
biopsy testing intestine tissue for damage to the villi. The only definite test
for celiac is a gluten-free diet.
Treatment/lifespan
There is no
cure fore celiac disease but fortunately there is a treatment. The only
treatment is a strict adherence to a 100% gluten-free diet. Which means no
wheat, rye, oats, barley and other products with gluten.
Celiac is not a
direct life threatening disease but not adhering to the gluten-free diet can
cause gastrointestinal cancer, which in turn could be fatal. The gluten-free
diet is a lifetime requirement.