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Typical and Atypical Symptoms of Celiac Disease
Recently, it has been found that celiac disease can affect anyone irrespective
of age, ethnic background and sex; it can stay lifelong and can involve
symptoms from many organs. The symptoms can vary much between individuals
and hence also between children and adults. Sometimes, there will be no
symptoms at all. Patients hence tend to go for many doctors to understand
their problem.
These symptoms almost disappear as the patients follow a gluten-free diet
strictly. The intestines being severely damaged owing to chronic inflammation
that it can never be healed with a gluten-free diet is a rare condition.
The patient is believed to be unresponsive or refractory in such rare
circumstances.
The celiac disease includes some symptoms involved with gastrointestinal,
some with malabsorption and many others. They are listed as follows.
The gastrointestinal symptoms
of Celiac Disease are
· Diarrhea
· Mouth ulcers
· Constipation
· Chronic bloating
· Chronic indigestion
· Poor appetite
· Lactose intolerance
· Abdominal cramping, pain, and distention.
These symptoms also occur in gastrointestinal problems like stomach ulcers,
inflammatory bowel disease or Crohn's disease. Hence celiac disease is
confused to be these sometimes. Besides, long-standing undiagnosed celiacs
can be subject to higher risk for developing lymphoma in small intestine
and adenocarcinoma. Their risk drops in case of following a strict gluten-free
diet. Anyway, the risk is very rare.
The malabsorption symptoms of Celiac Disease
· Weight loss
· Abnormal coagulation owing to vitamin K deficiency
· Failure to grow/underdeveloped growth in children
· Osteopenia or osteoporosis
· Fatigue
· Anemia
· Bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine
The flattened structure of the villi and other alterations in small intestine
leads to the above symptoms. The intestine’s ability to absorb minerals,
nutrients and vitamins is greatly impaired.
The other symptoms include
· Delayed puberty
· Dermatitis herpetiformis (a specific type of awfully itchy rash)
· Unexplained short stature
· Recurrent miscarriage
· Infertility
· Peripheral neuropathy
· Dental enamel abnormalities
· Epilepsy
· Autoimmune endocrine disorders, as well as thyroid disease
· Elevated liver function tests
· Depression and anxiety
· Ataxia
· Low serum (blood) calcium levels
· Low serum (blood) protein levels
· Subtle anomalies in blood tests for no evident reason (otherwise called
as "unexplained abnormal serum chemistries")
All the above lists of symptoms emphasize that the typical way to diagnose
celiac disease is really a tough one for even the best doctors. It is
very easy to miss the disease unless the doctor or the patient reminds
one another to consider it for diagnosis. This is common for people with
many medical problems in life and for individuals who seem fine but posses
a genetic predisposition. Once celiac
disease is confirmed, following a strict gluten-free
diet is essential to prevent other serious complications.
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