Celiac disease is strongly associated with certain forms of cancer. Find out which cancers are involved and what you can do to greatly minimize your risk. The association grows stronger with poor diagnosis and poor treatment. Read on to learn what leads to poor diagnosis and poor treatment and what you can do about it.
A study published in the medical journal BMC Gastroenterology found that on average it takes 9.7 years for a celiac patient to be diagnosed after he or she first experiences symptoms, and 5.8 years after visiting a doctor about those symptoms. According to the Columbia University Medical Center, the U.S. has more cases of undiagnosed celiac disease than Europe because doctors do not prescribe intestinal biopsies enough. No blood panel is 100% accurate; an intestinal biopsy is the only gold standard for celiac disease diagnosis.
Since celiac disease symptoms occur as a result of consuming gluten, people often categorize celiac disease (CD) as a digestive disorder. But the symptoms are actually the result of an autoimmune disease, and often the most insidious and serious signs aren’t as tangible and immediate as various intestinal discomforts. CD may also manifest itself very differently in different people, so it is difficult to use a checklist of symptoms to identify this condition.
Delineating whether you are suffering from wheat allergy symptoms or gluten allergy symptoms or celiac disease will be up to your doctor, but this celiac disease symptoms checklist should at least help you understand if celiac disease is a real possibility and then help your doctor better understand why you should be tested. Once you know your condition, you can improve your health and quality of life with the proper treatment.
One of the first steps in testing for gluten intolerance should include a blood test to look for raised antibodies and other biomarkers to determine if the patient has celiac disease. Keep in mind a negative blood test doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have a gluten intolerance of some kind. There are many things to consider both before and after testing.
In an allergic reaction, your immune system over-reacts to a foreign substance the human body usually ignores. In an autoimmune disease, your immune system reacts to normal cells or tissues that it usually ignores or accepts. This is why a peanut allergy can trigger a severe reaction via anaphylactic shock while celiac disease can do damage without any evident, tangible reaction after eating gluten.
In a modern, civilized society it is remarkable and confusing how often a serious disease goes unidentified and undiagnosed by medical doctors. Around one in 100 people suffer from celiac disease symptoms, yet a vast majority of those individuals don’t even know it. Sadly, a large number of these individuals have consulted their doctors to discuss symptoms they have been experiencing, yet they leave either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
In many cases celiac disease symptoms in adults can be particular difficult to discern as many adults have slowly become accustomed to subtle discomforts. Among gluten sensitivity issues, celiac disease symptoms remain the most severe and consequential. Unfortunately, they are not always easy to identify or understand. And latent celiac disease may also occur, where the symptoms of celiac disease in adults occur but then fade.
Persevering a condition where the symptoms are triggered by a staple of the western diet is difficult for people of any age, but identifying and diagnosing celiac disease symptoms in children can be particularly difficult and troubling. While I’ve tried to place each of these in the most appropriate age group, the truth is all of these symptoms can occur at any age. For that reason, here is a more conclusive list.
