Celiac Disease

What is "celiac disease"?

Coeliac disease is a much more common condition than we once thought it was. Coeliac disease is a condition, specifically a food allergy to gluten. Gluten is a product of wheat, rye, barley, oats, and specifically a lot of preservatives that are used in preparing food today. Coeliac disease generally affects children, but can affect adults even later in their lives.

What are the symptoms of celiac disease?

Coeliac disease is the inability or deficiency of the small intestine to digest and break down gluten, which is a component of wheat, rye, barley, oats and a lot of preservatives that are available in our daily foods. When this irritation occurs, and the small intestine cannot break down gluten, inflammation takes place which can lead to abdominal pain, heartburn, nausea and vomiting, and changes in the bowel habits, namely diarrhoea or potentially constipation.

How is celiac disease diagnosed?

The gold standard procedure to diagnose celiac disease is through a procedure called an upper endoscopy. An upper endoscopy is a procedure where a flexible camera called an endoscope is passed, under sedation, from the mouth into the esophagus, down into the stomach and the beginning of the small intestine where we generally see the celiac disease having an effect. A small forceps is used to remove a small tissue sample, and under the microscope, based on the changes that occur, we can diagnose celiac disease. Alternatively there are blood tests available that are highly accurate in determining whether one has celiac disease.

What is the treatment for celiac disease?

The treatments for coeliac disease centre on a gluten-free diet. Gluten is a component of wheat, barley, rye, oats, and preservatives that causes an inflammatory reaction, or an allergic type reaction in the small intestine that can promote to symptoms of coeliac disease. In order to avoid any irritation or any reactions taking place, we like to avoid any gluten in the diet. There are multiple types of diets available; we refer to these as gluten-free diets, in order to avoid problems in the future.