Coeliac disease is a prominent condition that has led to gluten-free diets being internationally recognized and pursued by many. Coeliac disease occurs when your immune system attacks your tissues upon consuming foods with gluten.
This disease is an adverse reaction to gluten. Gluten is mainly found in three types of cereals, which are rye, wheat, and barley. Hence, it’s often easy to find gluten in all three meals consumed throughout the day, especially if you consume processed foods or baked goods.
Coeliac disease is common in the UK, affecting approximately 1 in 100 people. However, this still isn’t an accurate number because experts believe many people are living with undiagnosed coeliac disease that’s affecting their lives every day. Some people also get misdiagnosed with conditions like IBS (irritable bowel disease).
Reported cases of coeliac disease are three times higher in women than men. You can also develop coeliac disease at any age; symptoms will likely develop between 8 and 12 months. However, it’s hard to diagnose in such early stages since young children undergo many gastrointestinal issues.
Some people also develop coeliac disease between the ages of 40 and 60. People who are likely to develop coeliac disease suffer from conditions like:
- Down’s syndrome
- Type 1 diabetes
- Autoimmune thyroid disease
- Turner syndrome
You’re also likely to suffer from coeliac disease if you have first-degree relatives who have coeliac disease.
What are the signs of being Coeliac?
When suffering from coeliac disease, eating foods with gluten results in symptoms like:
- Stomach ache
- Constipation
- Diarrhoea
- Indigestion
- Bloating and gassiness
When suffering from the coeliac disease can also cause some general symptoms like:
- Fatigue and headaches
- Weightloss
- Dermatitis (itchy blisters)
- Nerve damage (numbness and tingling in feet and hands), balance issues, and cognitive impairment
- Infertility
- Disorders affecting coordination, like balance and speech
- Reduced functioning of the spleen
- Mouth ulcers
- Osteomalacia (softening bones) and osteoporosis (bone density loss)
Children who have coeliac disease may not grow at the rate other children do and may even experience delayed puberty.
What is coeliac disease caused by?
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly affects healthy tissue. In coeliac disease, the immune system identifies the substances in gluten to be harmful (even though, in reality, they aren’t) and then attacks them.
This attack damages the small intestines’ surface, disrupting the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food. Researchers are still unsure why the immune system reacts in such a manner, but they believe it could be a combination of factors like genetics and environment.
When the surface of your small intestines is damaged, it results in symptoms like diarrhoea, weight loss, bloating, anaemia, fatigue, and even more severe complications.
Managing coeliac disease
For the longest time, the only way to manage coeliac disease is by adopting a gluten-free diet, which most people have pursued successfully. However, you must take an Allergy and Intolerance Test before doing so. This test checks for all food allergies and intolerances.
The reason for checking for all food allergies and intolerances is to ensure you get the proper diagnosis. So many intolerances and allergies can be similar to coeliac disease. If you don’t get an accurate diagnosis, you could end up experiencing more symptoms or avoiding foods you don’t need to avoid.
For example, it’s easy to confuse celiac disease with wheat allergy, wheat intolerance, or gluten intolerance. These are similar due to the common ingredients that cause these conditions and the symptoms that affect the digestive tract.
New coeliac disease treatment
Because of how much coeliac disease affects people worldwide, scientists have been working hard to develop a vaccine that prevents gluten from harming the digestive tract or triggering your body’s immune system.
The drug in question is Nexvax2. Its purpose is to leverage the body’s immune system to treat celiac disease. The concept behind this drug is that patients will start with a small dose of the vaccine and then gradually increase the dose allowing the body to build resistance against gluten and eliminating the side effects of consuming gluten {1}.
However, the drug has yet to be approved by the FDA, and the currently recognized method to treat or manage coeliac disease is by avoidance of gluten. But, since a drug is underway for this condition, it brings hope to people with coeliac disease.
The approval of Nexvax2 for sale will be a solution for celiac disease and become standard care for patients with this condition. Currently, patient trials will bring about a conclusive report and get the drug out to the market worldwide.
Our Allergy & Intolerance Test
Complications of coeliac disease
It can be dangerous if you don’t have a coeliac disease diagnosis. That’s why we recommend you take an Allergy and Intolerance Test to have your diagnosis and know what foods to avoid.
Complications that can arise from the coeliac disease include:
- Damaged tooth enamel
- Infertility and miscarriage
- Cancer, including intestinal lymphoma ad small bowel cancer
- Pancreatic disease
- Malnutrition
- Lactose intolerance
- Weak bones
- Nervous system problems like seizures and peripheral neuropathy
How to manage coeliac disease
Keeping a gluten-free diet is essential as we patiently await the cure to hit the market. You need to avoid certain foods to ensure you stick to this diet. These include grains like:
- Wheat
- Farro
- Graham
- Wheatberries
- Durum
- Malt
- Brewer’s yeast
- Wheat starch
- Einkorn wheat
- Semolina
- Spelt
- Farina
- Rye
- Barle
The easiest way to ensure you’re eating gluten-free foods is by making your food from scratch, avoiding processed foods, or purchasing processed foods that indicate “gluten-free” on the label.
You should avoid foods processed in the same facility as other gluten foods or trains. There is often cross-contamination that happens, resulting in symptoms that you’re changing your diet to avoid.
Final thoughts
Coeliac disease affects many people not only in the UK but around the world. This potential cure for this condition will be of aid to many people. However, the best you can do now is to become a test subject since it still hasn’t been released to the market and is still under review.
However, the first step right now is to take an Allergy and Intolerance Test if you have symptoms that make you believe you have coeliac disease. This test will help you manage your diet better and be sure of a diagnosis.
References
- Nexvax2 Therapeutic Vaccine Fast-Tracked by FDA. Celiac Disease Foundation. (https://celiac.org/about-the-foundation/featured-news/2019/01/nexvax2-therapeutic-vaccine-fast-tracked-by-fda/)
