Celiac Sprue
· Definition
· CELIAC SPRUE is the disorder of an abnormal immune response to Gluten, a protein in wheat and other grains.
· Celiac Sprue leads to inflammation of the intestine after eating wheat or other grains.
· Overview
· Celiac Sprue is sometimes referred to as a wheat allergy.
· Celiac Sprue is common, affecting 1% of people from Northern European countries.
· Celiac Sprue is often misdiagnosed or under diagnosed and as many as 90% of people do not know they have the disease. Up to 40% of people with Celiac disease have no symptoms.
· Celiac Sprue causes inflammation and damage to the first part of the intestine in response to the ingestion of wheat or other grains.
· Symptoms
· Celiac Sprue symptoms include:
nonspecific abdominal pain
Unexplained nausea
Weight loss
iron deficiency anemia
diarrhea
· Diagnosis
· Celiac Sprue can be diagnosed with blood tests for anti-endomysial or anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies.
· Celiac Sprue can also be diagnosed from a biopsy of the first part of the intestine.
· Complications
· Celiac Sprue can lead to an increase in risk of certain types of cancer.
· Celiac Sprue can cause malabsorption of nutrients, and weight loss.
· Treatment
· Celiac Sprue treatment is the complete restriction of the glutin containing grains:
wheat
rye
barley
References
Celiac disease. N Engl J Med. 2007 Oct 25;357(17):1731-43. [PMID: 17960014] Information coming soon
Posted on September 16, 2009
