Celiac disease, which so’s this disorder

More and more people suffer from celiac disease, a permanent inflammatory bowel disease that develops when people consume gluten. The gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye and thus in numerous products such as pasta, pizza, crackers, breadsticks and other baked goods, cakes, cookies, breakfast cereals, breaded meat and fish.

Celiac disease, even in sauces

It is also added as an additive in sauces, ready meals, ice cream, some types of yogurt and is also present in beer.

So every time these gluten-containing foods are consumed, an immune reaction is triggered that, over time, produces inflammation that damages the walls of the small intestine and the villi, thus hindering the absorption of food and nutrients.

Among the causes that give rise to celiac disease are factors:

• genetic (first-degree relatives of those with celiac disease are 15 percent more likely to develop it);
• immunological, the presence of an autoimmune disease (such as diabetes or thyroid disorders) increases the risk of developing celiac disease up to 10 times more than those without these diseases;
• Environmental, for example, infections of the digestive system can contribute to the development of celiac disease.

To tell if you have celiac disease, you can observe some "alarm bells," symptoms that may differ from person to person (and sometimes not even show up).

The most common are:

• diarrhea
• abdominal bloating
• meteorism
• abdominal cramps
• weight loss
• asthenia

People suffering from celiac disease may also present with anemia, because of difficulty assimilating iron due to atrophy of intestinal villi. They can also present osteoporosis, because of the difficulty in absorbing calcium, which is very important for the health of our bones.

There is no cure or drug therapy to treat celiac disease, the only thing that matters is to following a gluten-free eating style, so as to reduce the symptoms of the disorder and allow the gut to function normally.