IN CASE YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE

about Celiac disease, here is a good explanation about the disease.

The information came from here. (Click on link if you want to read more than what I posted below.)

Another fun fact about me and celiac disease: my middle name is Celia, just add a 'c' to the end and you have celiac. (Goofy, I know, but this is how I embrace new challenges).  :)

Soon I will post something else, I promise. This will not become the "Let her have celiac" blog instead of "Let them be little." It is just that right now, I am totally immersed in reading, learning and understanding more about this disease in order to speed up the healing process, if possible.

Thank you to those of you who have reached out with helpful hints, suggestions and places for me to look for additional help. I really appreciate all of that!

Now, back to the article:

What is celiac disease?

Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. 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 small intestine is shaded above.

When 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.

Villi on the lining of the small intestine help absorb nutrients.

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. Celiac disease is genetic, meaning it runs in families. Sometimes the disease is triggered—or becomes active for the first time—after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress.

What are the symptoms of celiac disease?

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.

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If you want to know more, click on the link at the top of the post. Of the last list, I have had 7 of those symptoms listed. Not sure about bone loss because I have not gone in for my scan yet, I hope my bones are still strong.

Thinking good, strong (and happy) thoughts.

 

Comments

[Jonathan]

Mar, I've always enjoyed that you are a voracious researcher!

JD

[Lori Tolbert]

Knowledge is power.

And I know that I shouldn't laugh about this post, but the whole thing about your middle name is just plain cute.

Thank you for the updates. I've been following them closely.

[Karen]

I think it is so interesting--our bodies really are amazing. And I also think it's crazy how one little thing (gluten) can cause such big problems.

[Grandma Honey]

This was very interesting to read. Really, thank you for including all the info. I wrote to my cousin's wife about your celiac since my cousin was diagnosed with celiac about your age. I thought what she wrote back was encouraging:

"Sorry to hear your friend had to suffer before finding out she had Celiac. Thank goodness she now knows what she has and can do something about it. Ron also got very dangerously anemic and after finally having an endoscopy, he was diagnosed. That was about 12 years ago when not much was known about it but things have really changed for people with this illness. It only took him a couple of weeks with no gluten before he started feeling much better."