What is Celiac Disease?
ce·li·ac dis·ease
noun
a disease in which the small intestine is hypersensitive to gluten, leading to difficulty in digesting food.
I vividly remember the nurse calling me and telling me that my biopsy results came back negative for Lupus, but the results for Celiac lit up like a Christmas tree. My response was. “What is celiac disease?”.
The Celiac Foundation defines celiac disease as a serious autoimmune disease that occurs in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. So basically, when I or someone else who has celiac disease eats gluten (more on the definition of this later) our bodies produce an immune response that attacks the small intestine. These attacks lead to damage on the villi, which are small fingerlike projections that line the small intestine, that promote nutrient absorption. When the villi get damaged, nutrients cannot be absorbed properly into the body (#ThatsSoCeliac). Other than freak out about no more of my Grandma’s homemade Christmas cookies for me (still working on a way to make them gluten free and be just as good), I started researching and reading, which became very overwhelming.
I found it hard to explain to people why I was getting so sick or why I always felt like I was in fog or why my body hated me so much. Well found out it was actually attacking itself due to my love of donuts, craft beer, pizza, etc. I found that people gave me blank stares when I told them I had celiac disease, which made me feel insecure and uninformed on what I was living with. A lot of people group celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, and “I’m gluten free” together (another blog posts on this later), which is frustrating, so I have concocted a way to explain to people what celiac disease is in the simplest form.
If I eat anything containing the nasty protein, Gluten, then I turn into a monster that will vomit and poop everywhere, along with getting very bloated (look like I am 5 months pregnant), need to lay on the cold ground while I groan in pain, develop very painful canker sores in my mouth, possible break out in a skin rash, and need to rest in bed for the next 24 hours since there is no cure for this!
Kidding, but seriously!
I typically explain that I have celiac disease, which is an auto immune disease trigger by me consuming anything with wheat, rye, and/or barley (AKA gluten). If I consume these then I will get very sick and it is not fun. I recommend doing your research and finding the simplest way to explain what you are living with to others you may not be aware of celiac disease is. If you want to throw some more celiac fun facts at them, please visit The Celiac Foundation. This has been one of the most accurate and most useful resources for some of the common questions about celiac disease. Visit the foundation site at https://celiac.org/.
Here are some fun facts that I found interesting when doing research:
It is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide.
Two and one-half million Americans are undiagnosed and are at risk for long-term health complications.
Celiac disease is hereditary. People with a first-degree relative with celiac disease (parent, child, sibling) have a 1 in 10 risk of developing celiac disease.
Biopsy remains the most accurate way to diagnose celiac disease.