What is celiac disease?

Celiac disease is a disorder that causes problems in your small intestine when you eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. Gluten is poison to people with celiac disease.

What does gluten do to people who have celiac disease?

Gluten damages the small intestine of people who have celiac disease. This damage keeps your body from taking in many of the nutrients from the foods you eat, including vitamins, calcium, protein, carbohydrates, fats and other important nutrients. Your body can't work well without these nutrients.

What are the symptoms of celiac disease?

Celiac disease can cause different symptoms at different times:

• Infants and young children who have celiac disease are more likely to have digestive symptoms, such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea (even bloody diarrhea) and constipation, and may fail to grow and gain weight. A child may also be irritable, fretful, emotionally withdrawn or excessively dependent. If the child becomes malnourished, he or she may have a large tummy, thin thigh muscles and flat buttocks.
• Teenagers may hit puberty late and be short. Celiac disease might cause some hair loss (a condition called alopecia areata) or dental problems.
• Adults are less likely to have digestive symptoms. Instead, they might have a general feeling of poor health, including fatigue, bone or joint pain, irritability, anxiety and depression, and missed menstrual periods in women.
• Osteoporosis (loss of calcium from the bones) and anemia are common in adults who have celiac disease. A symptom of osteoporosis may be nighttime bone pain.
• Lactose intolerance (a problem digesting milk products) is common in patients of all ages who have celiac disease.
• Dermatitis herpetiformis (an itchy, blistery skin problem) and canker sores in the mouth are also common problems in people who have celiac disease.

How did I get celiac disease?

Celiac disease runs in the family. You inherited the tendency to get this disease from your parents. If 1 member of your family has celiac disease, about 1 person out of 10 other members of your family is also likely to have it. You may have this tendency for a while without getting sick. Then something like severe stress, physical injury, infection, childbirth or surgery can "turn on" your celiac disease.

How can I be sure I have celiac disease?

Blood tests can help your doctor diagnose this disease. If you think you have celiac disease, talk to your doctor. Don't stop eating gluten before you have a blood test. If you stop eating gluten before your blood test, it can mess up your results.

If your blood test indicates that you might have celiac disease, an intestinal biopsy (taking a small piece of tissue from your small intestine using a thin tube) or the diagnosis of dermatitis herpetiformis (a skin rash) will confirm that you have celiac disease.

Celiac disease sounds really serious! How can I control it?

Celiac disease is serious. Fortunately you can control celiac disease by following a gluten-free diet, meaning you don't eat any gluten. By following the right diet, you can reverse the damage caused by celiac disease and you'll feel better. But if you "cheat" on your diet, the damage will come back, even if you don't feel sick right away.

People who follow a gluten-free diet usually avoid all foods that contain wheat, barley and rye products, including many breads, pastas, cereals and processed foods, Some people also choose to avoid oats because some oat products may be contaminated with wheat gluten, Gluten also is sometimes used in medicines, so be sure to talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking a new medicine.

Learning to be gluten-free may be difficult at first. It will take time for you and your family to learn how to avoid gluten. You'll have to learn to read ingredient labels and identify the foods that contain gluten. You'll have to be careful when you buy foods at the grocery store, or when you eat out. You'll probably have to learn some new cooking recipes. For help, contact one of the celiac support groups listed below. These groups are excellent sources of information and advice. They'll help you find gluten-free foods and good recipes, and can give you tips on successfully living with celiac disease.

What resources are there for people with celiac disease?

The following cookbooks are written by Bette Hagman and published by Henry Holt and Co. In the books, Hagman, who has celiac disease, shares what she has learned about a gluten-free diet.

• The Gluten-Free Gourmet: Living Well Without Wheat
• More From the Gluten-Free Gourmet
• The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy

The following book is a general guide to living gluten-free:

• Against the Grain: The Slightly Eccentric Guide to Living Well Without Gluten or Wheat, written by Jax Peters Lowell and published by Henry Holt and Co.

• My mother had celiac disease. Am I at risk?
• I have celiac disease. Are my children at risk of having it too?
• What are the symptoms of celiac disease, and how are they different from other digestive problems?
• Is celiac disease a sign of another health problem? Does it put me at risk of other health problems?
• Can celiac disease be cured?
• Can you recommend a support group for people with celiac disease?