Celiac Disease Health Article

Definition

Celiac disease is a disease of the digestive system in which the inside lining of the small intestine (mucosa) is damaged after eating wheat, rye, oats, or barley, resulting in interference with the absorption of nutrients from food.

Description

Celiac disease occurs when the body reacts abnormally to gluten, a protein found in grains, including wheat, rye, barley, and possibly oats. When someone with celiac disease eats foods containing gluten, that person's immune system causes an inflammatory response in the small intestine, which damages the tissues and results in impaired ability to absorb nutrients from foods (malabsorption). The inflammation and malabsorption create wide-ranging problems in many systems of the body. Since the body's own immune system causes the damage, celiac disease is classified as an autoimmune disorder.

Each person with celiac disease is affected differently. When food containing gluten reaches the small intestine, the immune system begins to attack a substance called gliadin, which is found in the gluten. The resulting inflammation causes damage to the delicate finger-like structures in the intestine, called villi, where food absorption actually takes place. This damage is referred to as villus atrophy. The patient may experience a number of symptoms related to the inflammation and the chemicals it releases, and/or the lack of ability to absorb nutrients from food, which can cause malnutrition.

Celiac disease is also called sprue, nontropical sprue, gluten sensitive enteropathy, and celiac sprue.