Celiac Disease
- What is celiac disease?
- What are the symptoms of celiac disease?
- Why are celiac disease symptoms so varied?
- What other health problems do people with celiac disease have?
- How common is celiac disease?
- How is celiac disease diagnosed?
- How is celiac disease treated?
- The Gluten-free Diet: Some Examples
- Points to Remember
- Hope through Research
- For More Information
What is celiac disease?
Celiac disease is both a disease of malabsorption—meaning nutrients are not absorbed properly—and an abnormal immune reaction to gluten... that damages the small intestine.
People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley.
When people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food one eats.
Villi on the lining of the small intestine help absorb nutrients.
