Precautions In Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is a disease of digestive system. It damages the small intestine in such a way that the nutrients do not get absorbed from the food.

Gluten is a protein which is present in almost every food item. This is not digested by the person suffering from celiac disease. When a person eats any product containing gluten, it destroys the villi (present at the surface of small intestine). These villi absorb the nutrients from the food. Person having this disease becomes malnourished no matter how much he eats.

Symptoms

The symptoms of this disease vary from person to person. Small children or infants mainly have symptoms of digestive problem. This includes bloating pain in the abdomen, diarrhoea, vomiting, constipation, weight loss and smelly stool.

Adults have different symptoms like fatigue, arthritis, bone or joint pain, seizures, missed menstrual periods, infertility or frequent miscarriage, canker sores, skin rashes and anemia.

Sometimes, people suffering from this disease may not have symptoms but the disease keeps on building in the body.

Precautions

Person suffering from celiac disease should avoid some particular food items. Avoid all foods made of wheat, rice and barley. Oats should also be avoided. Some people can only digest oats and some cannot as they are also made up of wheat. Foods containing gluten like salad dressing, canned foods, ketchups, ice creams, yoghurt, sausages, coffee and many more should be avoided.

Avoid beer. But you can have whisky, wine and brandy. Avoid diary products like milk, cottage cheese and others. Try to consult some dietician for a proper diet chart.

The disease may lead to mal-absorption of some vitamins and minerals. So, supplements of them have to be taken. A multi-vitamin should be taken daily.

Prognosis

In many cases improvement can be seen only by restricting gluten free diet. In children changes can be seen very fast. Diarrhoea and vomiting goes off and irritability also goes away. Normal growth resumes with a good increase in height.

Consultation with the doctor is very important. Otherwise it can cause some other serious problems. Even cancer can develop from this.