What exactly is
Celiac Disease?
Celiac Disease is said to
affect 1% of the population,
but it’s vast under-diagnosis
is more and more
widely recognized.
Having one autoimmune disease puts you at greater risk for developing other autoimmune diseases.
Dermatitis Herpetiformis,
a kind of “sister” disease
to Celiac Disease, is actually the dermatological expression of Celiac Disease. It presents as a severely itchy, blistering skin rash, but stems nonetheless from intestinal damage triggered by gluten.
Diagnosing Celiac Disease is tricky, because many of the initial symptoms present as signs that can be easily dismissed.
Celiac Disease is an illness of the small intestine. Autoimmune in nature, the presence of a specific protein (called gluten) found in wheat, rye, and barley triggers the immune system to attack the absorptive surface of the small intestine. Accordingly, severe illness ensues as the body’s ability to replenish itself with macro and micro-nutrients is inhibited.
Common symptoms of Celiac Disease are chronic abdominal pain and diarrhea, severe weight loss, severe fatigue, and malnutrition. (More and more common, if somewhat less “classic”, symptoms of Celiac Disease are anemia, oral ulcers, infertility, and neurological problems.)
Celiac Disease is commonly associated with thryoid disease and Type I Diabetes. (See quotes, to left.).
Still, if you’re going to have a chronic illness, Celiac Disease is perhaps one of the “best” ones to get. It involves absolutely no costly pharmaceutical drugs, nor surgical interventions (beyond the biopsy typically used to confirm diagnosis). Indeed, the only remedy for Celiac Disease is a strict gluten-free diet for life.
Eat well… be well. Period.
Could a gluten-free diet
be a solution for you?
Let's talk about it...
Optimize your health despite a sensitivity or intolerance to gluten, by adopting a gluten-free diet.
(I will help you do it!)
A gluten-free diet removes the trigger
that is making you sick,
and allows your body to finally heal.