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What is Celiac Disease

What is celiac disease, you may ask ? Well, The body's digestive system consists of a number of organs where food is digested and nutrients absorbed from the food. One of the organs that is most important is the small intestine where the nutrients are absorbed from the digested food and distributed throughout the body by the blood. This absorption is facilitated by the presence of tiny projections in the intestinal walls called villi. Proper nutrition for the body is dependent on a sufficient number of and proper functioning of these villi.

What is Celiac Disease

In some people, when the body encounters gluten ( a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and some other grains), a protein sub-chain in the gluten molecule, induces the body's immune system to recognize the molecule as an invader. The immune system reacts by producing antibodies to neutralize this 'invader' and the antibodies act by attacking the site of maximum concentration of the gluten molecules - the villi. This attack damages the villi and absorption of nutrients tapers off in what is celiac disease. In the early stages, the damage to villi may not be so pronounced and, hence, may not be detected but as the damage advances, nutrient deficiencies start showing up as what is celiac disease and its symptoms.

The most common deficiencies are that of iron and vitamin B12 (leading to anemia), vitamin K (that leads to easy bruising and excessive bleeding due to lack of the clotting factor)calcium (leading to osteoporosis -brittle bones) and lactose absorption (leading to fatigue). Another very serious problem with what is celiac disease is the non-absorption of fats. The fats are not absorbed in the intestine but are passed as such to the colon, where they are broken down into fatty acids but not absorbed. This higher concentration of fatty acids attracts water into the colon and causes diarrhea. Also the undigested fats are excreted giving the stools a fatty, foul-smelling constitution and sometimes, fat droplets can be seen floating on top of the water in the toilet bowl.

Though the maximum percentage of people contract celiac disease due to a genetic pre-disposition to it, in a number of cases, what is celiac disease has been caused by the over growth of an intestinal bacteria called 'Candida Albicans'. The bacteria, when in equilibrium, is a beneficent agent of fighting infection by harmful bacteria. However, in cases, where the immune system is depressed or the intake of sugar is increased, Candida growth becomes uncontrolled and it transforms to a fungoidal form that develops rhizoids (long, thin root-like structures). The rhizoids penetrate the intestinal walls and leave microscopic holes through which toxins, undigested food particles and bacteria pass into the bloodstream causing what is celiac disease.