Celiac Disease
By Litzy Garcia
Definition of the disorder
Celiac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of foods that are importing for staying healthy.
What it does to the body
The small intestine is lined with finger-shaped tissues called villi, it creates a large surface that absorbs vitamins, sugar and other nutrients as food passes through the small intestine. When a person with celiac disease eats gluten, the villi flattens out. This inability to absorb nutrients may be bad enough to stunt growth and weaken bones.
Symptoms
*Iron deficiency anemia
*Bones weaken
*Lactose intolerance
*Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
*central and peripheral nervous system disorders
*Intestinal lymphomas and other GI cancers
*Gall bladder malfunction
Causes of the disorder
The causes when a person with it eats gluten. Celiac disease is a mutation caused by changes to genes within DNA it is also a genetic disorder that is common in people of European descent. It is located on chromosome 6p21, and it is not recessive or dominant, the genes are either passed from their parents to child or not.
How celiac disease is treated
There is no cure for it, the only treatment for it is a gluten free diet, this involves removing all wheat, rye, and common oats from the diet.
How the disorder is diagnosed
Doctors do blood tests to diagnose it, numerous studies on women suffer from unexpected infertility that the incidence of undiagnosed celiac disease.
How many and what type of people are likely to have it
It is more common in people of Europe descent, it is less common in Asians and Africans, it is also more common in women then men. It's rare childhood syndrome, more then two million people in the United States have it.
Interesting things about it
1. an estimated 1 in 133 Americans, or about 1% of the population has it
2.untreated celiac disease increases the risk of cancer 200 to 300%
3. 51.4% of those with celiac disease have neurologic disorders
4.the average length of time it takes for a symptomatic person to be diagnosed with celiac disease in the US is 4 years
5.it happens less to children then adults