Celiac Disease: Gluten Intolerance

Imagine life without bread, cakes, drumsticks, pizza, pasta and a host of other delights made with wheat flour, for example. Difficult, isn't it? And these are just some of the dietary restrictions of thousands of people suffering from gluten intolerance.

Below you can clarify some of the main questions about the disease and understand a little more about it.

What is Celiac Disease?

Celiac disease or permanent gluten intolerance is an autoimmune disease that primarily affects the small intestine.

When the celiac individual eats gluten, the body reacts against itself by damaging the walls that line the small intestine, impairing the absorption of nutrients that do not reach where they should reach and triggering a series of reactions.

What is gluten?

Gluten is the main protein in wheat, oats, rye, malt barley and their derivatives.

This protein is present in most foods and also in medicines, industrialized beverages, cosmetics and other products made from these cereals.

There is still no technique for removing gluten from food, so even when baked or cooked, it remains present.

What are the statistical data of the disease?

Although not well known, Celiac Disease is considered common in Brazil, but the lack of information and difficulty in diagnosing the problem decreases the search for specialists and, consequently, the chances of improving the quality of life of celiac patients.

In the US and Europe, it is estimated that in a group of 100 to 200 people, 1 is celiac. In Brazil, there are no official data, but in a survey published by UNIFESP in 2005, in a study with adult blood donors, the result showed an incidence of 1 celiac for each group of 214 residents of São Paulo. According to the National Federation of Celiac Associations in Brazil, over one million Brazilians have the disease and do not know it.

When does the disease manifest?

The disease usually manifests itself in the first years of life as soon as gluten is inserted into the babies' diet, but there are cases where intolerance manifests itself only in adulthood.

Who can develop the disease?

It is not possible to say whether or not the person will have the disease, but research shows that the likelihood of developing the disease is higher among women, with a ratio of one woman to two celiac men, and people with type 1 diabetes, thyroid problems, Turner syndrome, Williams syndrome or first degree relatives of celiac.

What are the symptoms?

There are exceptions, but the most common symptom of celiac disease is chronic diarrhea characterized by light-colored liquid or soft stools, which may indicate that the intestine is not absorbing nutrients.

In addition, a number of other problems may be directly related to the disease, such as constipation, abdominal bloating, flatulence, irritability and poor weight gain, growth retardation and puberty due to nutrient deficiency, iron deficiency anemia. , osteoporosis, infertility, recurrent miscarriages, malnutrition and even neurological disorders.

In babies, it can cause fat loss and compromise growth.

Celiac disease can also present in its asymptomatic form, ie without symptoms, which can be dangerous because if left untreated, the disease can trigger problems such as intestinal cancer, anemia, osteoporosis, anemia, recurrent miscarriages and sterility.

How is the diagnosis made?

To diagnose the disease, a series of blood tests are performed to detect the presence of related antibodies, but for a more accurate result, an analysis is needed to verify the change in the villi lining the walls of the small intestine, and This can only be done through a biopsy endoscopy that takes small samples of the tissue for analysis.

Once the diagnosis is made, if so, it is recommended that the celiac go through a consultation with the nutritionist to receive all the information necessary to start a new diet.

How is the treatment done?

The only way to treat the disease is to eliminate gluten by following a strict diet, ie no bread, cakes, crackers, noodles, drumsticks, kibes, pizzas, beers, whiskey, vodka, and any other foods that have gluten. in its composition or manufacturing process.

Usually, the celiac diet is composed mostly of fats (margarine, butters, oils) and proteins (meat in general) and less carbohydrates (gluten-free pasta, sugars).

In order to have a balanced diet, coeliacs must control their protein intake, moderate their fat intake and increase their intake of fruits, natural juices, vegetables and legumes.

Since it is an allergy-like process, any amount of gluten ingested is sufficient to activate the disease.

Within days of cutting gluten from the diet, symptoms begin to disappear and on average within a year the intestinal mucous membranes normalize, but getting gluten out of the diet is very difficult, especially for children and adolescents. The alternative is to replace banned products with corn derivatives such as cornstarch, cornmeal, cornmeal, rice derivatives such as rice flour, potato derivatives such as potato starch, manioc flour, flour, sprinkles. sour, sweet manioc flour and tapioca.

What is the law that supports the celiac?

In 2003 with Law 10.674, all foods were required to present the information on the packaging? Contains gluten? or? does not contain gluten ?, but not all industries have technology to perform tests that identify the presence or absence of protein.

Celiac Disease and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity | Michael Albertson, MD - UCLA Health (April 2024)