Celiac Disease is an inherited autoimmune disorder that can occur in genetically predisposed people where the digestion of gluten leads to damage to small intestine. The symptoms are triggered by “gluten”, the name given to certain proteins in wheat (including spelt and kamut), barley, rye, and triticale (a cross between wheat and rye). In celiac disease, the body’s immune system responds abnormally to gluten, resulting in inflammation and damage to the lining of the small intestine, and reduced absorption of iron, calcium, vitamins A, D, E, K, and folate.
Celiac disease is now recognized as one of the most common chronic diseases in the world. It is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide. More than 2 million people in the United States have the disease, or about 1 in 133 people. Among people who have a first-degree relative—a parent, sibling, or child— diagnosed with celiac disease, as many as 1 in 22 people may have the disease.
What happens in Celiac Disease?
In the intestinal tract there are living microbes. The good bacteria are called flora, and the harmful microorganisms are called candida albicans (yeast). In health, the candida is overrun by the flora. Flora keeps the yeast in-check in a healthy individual. However, this ideal state is not common nowadays. With celiac disease, there is often so much candida (yeast overgrowth) in the intestinal tract that the immune system begins attacking the intestinal tract itself, because this part of the body is detected as being dangerously toxic. Celiac disease is exactly this panic response. For people suffering with it, starchy (glutenous) foods are especially aggravating to their already inflamed immune systems. These foods are likely to trigger hyper-immune responses amongst such people, to cause extreme irritation and gastrointestinal spasms. The disease makes the digestion of fats especially difficult too.
As mentioned earlier, people who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins, and lip balms. The moment people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food one eats.
Celiac disease is both a disease of malabsorption—meaning nutrients are not absorbed properly—and an abnormal immune reaction to gluten. Celiac disease is also known as celiac sprue, nontropical sprue, and gluten-sensitive enteropathy.
What exactly is gluten?
Gluten is a protein that is found in flour made from wheat and is also contained in rye and barley. The gluten content of flours the reason that flour can be formed into dough and then rises during baking. Gluten in flours contained in many foods but especially bread and pastry
Causes
Researchers do not know the exact cause of celiac disease. Celiac disease sometimes runs in families. In 50 percent of people who have celiac disease, a family member, when screened, also has the disease.
A person’s chances of developing celiac disease increase when his or her genes—traits passed from parent to child—have variants, or changes. In celiac disease, certain gene variants and other factors, such as a person’s exposure to things in his or her environment, can lead to celiac disease.
For most people, eating something with gluten is harmless. For others, an exposure to gluten can cause, or trigger, celiac disease to become active. Sometimes surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, a viral infection, or severe emotional stress can also trigger celiac disease symptoms.
Symptoms
Symptoms of celiac disease vary from person to person. Symptoms may occur in the digestive system or in other parts of the body. Digestive symptoms are more common in infants and young children and may include
- Abdominal bloating and pain
- Chronic diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Constipation
- Pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool
- Weight loss
Irritability is another common symptom in children. Malabsorption of nutrients during the years when nutrition is critical to a child’s normal growth and development can result in other problems such as failure to thrive in infants, delayed growth and short stature, delayed puberty, and dental enamel defects of the permanent teeth
Adults are less likely to have digestive symptoms and may instead have one or more of the following:
- Unexplained iron-deficiency anemia
- Fatigue
- Bone or joint pain
- Arthritis
- Bone loss or osteoporosis
- Depression or anxiety
- Tingling numbness in the hands and feet
- Seizures
- Missed menstrual periods
- Infertility or recurrent miscarriage
- Canker sores inside the mouth
- An itchy skin rash called dermatitis
- Herpetiformis
People with celiac disease may have no symptoms but can still develop complications of the disease over time. Long-term complications include malnutrition—which can lead to anemia, osteoporosis, and miscarriage, among other problems—liver diseases, and cancers of the intestine.
Other Health Problems –
People with celiac disease tend to have other diseases in which the immune system attacks the body’s healthy cells and tissues. The connection between celiac disease and these diseases may be genetic. They include
- Type 1 diabetes
- Autoimmune thyroid disease
- Autoimmune liver disease
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Addison’s disease, a condition in which the glands that produce critical hormones are damaged
- Sjögren’s syndrome, a condition in which the glands that produce tears and saliva are destroyed
Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is an intensely itchy, blistering skin rash that affects 15 to 25 percent of people with celiac disease.3 The rash usually occurs on the elbows, knees, and buttocks. Most people with DH have no digestive symptoms of celiac disease.
Treatment
The immune systems of celiac patients are so overdriven, that their risks of developing other serious heath problems, including cancers, are increased significantly. The risks are especially high when they are trying to suppress celiac symptoms with pharmaceuticals. Therefore, eliminating celiac disease naturally yields far-reaching benefits into the future.
The only current treatment for celiac disease and its skin form, dermatitis herpetiformis, is maintaining a strict gluten-free diet for life. Complete avoidance of gluten enables the intestine to heal, and the nutritional deficiencies and other symptoms to resolve. Children tend to heal more quickly than adults. Following a strict gluten-free diet also reduces the risk of developing many of the serious long-term complications related to untreated celiac disease.
Adjusting to a gluten-free diet can be challenging, since it involves knowing what foods contain gluten, and determining possible hidden sources of gluten in food products and medications. It also involves a number of lifestyle changes since many commonly eaten foods must be avoided, including pasta, most breakfast cereals and certain snacks, most breads and other baked goods including cakes, cookies, doughnuts, bagels, etc. Wheat flour and wheat starch are also frequently added as a thickener or stabilizer to soups, sauces, and processed meats and fish, including wieners, sausages, and imitation seafood. Barley is used in the manufacture of beer and of malt, a flavoring agent commonly used in food. To avoid hidden sources of gluten in the diet, knowledge of potential sources of gluten and careful reading of food ingredient lists is essential.
Vaccinations
In some people, coeliac disease can cause the spleen to work less effectively, making the body more vulnerable to infection. However, if the spleen is unaffected by celiac disease, these vaccinations are not usually necessary.
- Flu (influenza) jab
- Hib/MenC vaccine, which protects against sepsis (blood poisoning), pneumonia and meningitis (an infection of the lining of the brain)
- Pneumococcal vaccine, which protects against infections caused by the Streptococcus pneumoniae bacterium
Alternate Treatment
Alternate treatment focuses on –
- Suppress candida (yeast) overgrowth
- Stimulate healthy intestinal flora
- Stimulate intestinal repair
These things can be accomplished merely through nutritional changes, but herbal supplements can help to accelerate the process.
Treating the Gut –
- Licorice root
- Apple pectin is used to remove unwanted toxins and heavy metals (mercury, lead, aluminum, etc.), lower cholesterol, and reduce the side effects of exposure to radiation.
- Marshmallow root controls and soothes inflammation and irritation of the alimentary canal.
- MSM is concentrated in connective tissues. It promotes structural repair.
- Aloe vera extract has the ability to move deep into damaged tissues to promote repair, and it is a mild laxative.
- Paprika has helped celiac sufferers substantially.
- Dandelion can be used in tea form for best absorption, or it may be obtained in supplemental capsules.
- Probiotics – Comprised of good bacteria, probiotics help reestablish the bacterial environment in the gut. Eating probiotic food or taking a daily probiotic supplement is especially effective for treating celiac disease.
- Avoid all products with soy.
- Avoid canola oil.
- Colloidal silver would be extremely beneficial in speeding up the process, especially in the beginning.
- Garlic is an anti-microbial and will help fight and kill bacteria, fungus and infections in the gastrointestinal system. Use copious amounts.
- Grapefruit seed extract
- Vitamins A, E, folate (folic acid), and the mineral zincparticipate in beneficial antioxidant functions to reduce oxidative stress in the cellular lining of the gut. In this manner, they assist in the overall repair process. Some of the gut barrier functions, such as IgA secretion, can be enhanced by these vitamins.
- Silica soothes inflammations in the gastrointestinal tract.
Reference –
http://www.corecharity.org.uk/images/coeliac%20disease.pdf
http://www.cureceliacdisease.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CDCFactSheets10_SymptomList.pdf
http://www.cureceliacdisease.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CDCFactSheets10_SymptomList.pdf
https://celiac.org/celiac-disease/what-is-celiac-disease/
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases_conditions/hic_celiac_disease
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/c/celiac_disease/causes.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/celiac-disease/basics/treatment/con-20030410
http://www.drugs.com/condition/celiac-disease.html
http://www.earthclinic.com/cures/celiac-disease-alternative-medicine.html