Celiac disease (also called gluten intolerance or glutamate enteropathy) is a chronic digestive disease caused by ingestion of gluten, which prevents absorption of nutrients, vitamins and minerals by the intestine. At Celiac persons, ingestion of gluten train an abnormal immune reaction in the small intestine. This reaction not only destroys gluten as if it would be dangerous for the body, but also attacks the mucus from the small intestine. Inflammatory substances end up destroying the intestinal villous, allowing absorption of nutrients.



Thus, despite a healthy diet, Celiac people suffer from malnutrition.
Gluten is an elastic and viscous mass of protein present in most cereals. Responsible for leavening bread and other bakery products, gluten binder serves food. Gluten is found in many cereal grains, including wheat, barley, oats and rye. For wheat, the allergic reaction is directed against gliadin (a fraction of protein present in wheat gluten). In the case of barley, hordeina is toxic, and for rye - secalina. No treatment can cure Celiac disease. However, the disease can be kept under control through diet change - permanently eliminating gluten from the diet.



In most cases, Celiac disease occurs in children between 6 months and 2 years after the introduction of cereals in the diet. It can also manifest in adulthood, usually at 30-40 years. Women are 2 to 3 times more affected than men.

There are some causes and risk factors of Celiac disease and some of them, I'll write in the following lines. The origin of the disease is little known, but scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental ones are involved. When a family member is affected, the risk of disease occurrence is 10%. At identical twins, the accordance is 70%.



It is believed that Celiac disease is tied to the eating habits in the first months of life: duration of breastfeeding, the moment of cereals introduction in infant feeding and the quantity of grain consumed, but no evidence of this. At adults, the disease is sometimes triggered by physical stress (surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infections) or a strong emotional stress. For reasons unknown, people show greater Celiac intestinal permeability, allowing a portion of the gluten to enter the mucus of the small intestine, triggering an allergic reaction to this level.

Here are also some of the risk factors:

- Celiac disease seems to be more common in people suffering from an autoimmune disease: systemic lupus, erythematosus, diabetes type 1, rheumatoid arthritis , Hashimoto thyroids. Also, the incidence of disease seems to be higher in those affected by trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).

- Positive Family history for Celiac disease is a risk factor - Baby's eating habits can influence illness - this hypothesis has not been demonstrated.