COELIAC.
Is gluten making you sick?

Coeliac, or as it sometimes spelt, Celiac, is a disease of the autoimmune system that manifests itself in the small intestine, and, interferes with the absorption of nutritients from food.

Diarrhoea, weight loss, and fatigue are the classic symptoms of coeliac disease along with stunted growth in children. Often the full range of these symptoms is absent and only fatigue and anaemia is present in many adults. Abdominal pain and cramping may accompany these symptoms.

Frequently the symptoms are attributed to irritable bowel syndrome, which is only later recognised as coeliac disease. A small number of patients with the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome have coeliac disease; these should be screened and tested for this disease.

Until a few years ago I had never heard of this disease when one of my daughters told us that she had it and could not eat much of the food available on the market. I found it hard then to get firm details of this illness.

What I did learn was that some people are intolerant to gluten. Gluten is a protein found is wheat, barley and rye. It was obvious to me that wheat based food such as bread must contain gluten, what I did not know is that gluten is also used as an additive and thickener in processed products like sauces, salad dressings and even sausages. I have found that gluten is also found in a wide range of foods even those you would not have thought of as containing gluten. Just about every packaged breakfast food contains gluten.

This disease was first recognised in the second century, but, because of its very nature, is hard to diagnose and to develop a treatment regime for.

The exact causes of the disease is not yet fully understood, it may not be possible to identify a cause at all. It is possible to develop an intolerance to gluten at any point in your life for no apparent reason.

This disease is thought to run in families and therefore is genetic. Often it is triggered to become active for the first time following, surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress.

It is only a few years since my daughter was diagnosed and when she was there was no gluten free products readily available, what was out there was very expensive. Today gluten free products are much more readily available with whole shelves in the supermarket being devoted to these products.

There is no cure for the disease. However, it can be controlled and the symptoms all but eliminated by the removal of all gluten from your diet.

If you think that you have coeliac consult your doctor and ask him to run the tests to be sure. Also, ask him/her to refer you to a dietician, and work with this person to develop a meal plan that works for you.

You will find many healthy gluten free recipes available so that you can make your own healthy foods for very little cost that you, and your family, will find very tasty.

While the mere removal of Gluten from the diet will permit the body to start healing itself, the recovery may not be a fast or as thorough as you may want. To augment this diet add vitamin D and some calcium along with supervised, controlled, exercise.

There is no doubt that untreated Coeliac can destroy a patients health and enjoyment of life, a balanced healthy nutritious diet will control this condition and add back the sparkle of life.

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