Coeliac Disease.

Definition:
Celiac disease is the most common bowel disorder occurring due to intolerance towards a particular protein which is called as Gluten.
Gluten is a protein which is abundantly present in cereals like wheat, rye barley which are used to make most of the staple food like bread, bun, pasta and biscuits.
Causes:
The celiac disease affects few people and the exact cause for this is not clearly known. The disease might manifest at any age group mostly at 40-50 year old people.
The most plausible theory is when gluten rich food is consumed by the people who suffer from this disease the gluten is attacked by the body’s immune system in the gut. This is because the body’s immune system mistakes the gluten as a harmful foreign object and triggers a violent reaction to remove it from the body, a condition known as autoimmune disorder.
When the body’s immune system reacts it also damages the gut causing inflammation which leads to various symptoms of the celiac disease. The lining of gut is damaged by various toxins released by the immune system resulting in loss of the absorptive surface area thus most nutrients are not digested leading to weight loss and nutritional deficiency.
The reason for this autoimmune response to a fairly harmless substance is still largely unknown. However the following things are fairly noticed.
Family history:
Celiac disease often runs in the family and can be inherited, the risk is doubled or increased depending upon the how close is the relative who has the disease. Thus the cause of celiac disease is probably genetic in nature.
Other condition:
Other diseases have high influence on developing the celiac disease. Most important of them type I diabetes and hypothyroidism.
This is probably because both the disease is also autoimmune disease, in diabetes the cells attack pancreas and in hypothyroidism thyroid is the target for the body immune system.
Stress and trauma is also known to trigger the celiac disease, celiac disease will be triggered after pregnancy or a major surgery.
Symptoms:
Symptoms vary from people to people and also the age on which it is set of, and some people will never have any symptoms.
Some symptoms developing in babies as soon as they are fed with gluten rich diet are:
Swollen stomach.
Smelling diarrhea.
Vomiting.
Pale stools.
And impaired development or failure to grow.
Symptoms for children and teenagers are similar to that of babies and also includes.
Anemia – less hemoglobin due to poor absorption of the Iron from the gut.
Pale and smelly stools.
Tiredness.
Rarely irregular heartbeats mostly due to anemia.
Symptoms in adults:
Stomach pain.
Weight loss
Fatigability.
Mouth ulcer- due to lack of vitamin C
Feeling bloated.
Flatulence.
Anemia, irregular heartbeats.
Smelly stools.
In few who are intolerant towards gluten they might as well develop another condition known as Dermatitis Herpetiformis. In this condition one develops allergic rashes all over the body more on elbows, knees and buttock due to reaction of the immune system.