Celiac Disease
What Causes Celiac Disease?
Gluten is the enemy for people with celiac disease
Also known as celiac sprue, nontropical sprue and gluten-sensitive enteropathy, celiac disease occurs in people who have a susceptibility to gluten.
Normally, your small intestine is lined with tiny, hair-like projections called villi. Resembling the deep pile of a plush carpet on a microscopic scale, villi work to absorb vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from the food you eat. Celiac disease results in damage to the villi. Without villi, the inner surface of the small intestine becomes less like a plush carpet and more like a tile floor, and your body is unable to absorb nutrients necessary for health and growth. Instead, nutrients such as fat, protein, vitamins and minerals are eliminated with your stool.
The exact cause of celiac disease is unknown, but it's often inherited. If someone in your immediate family has it, chances are 5 to 15 percent that you may as well. Many times, for reasons that aren't clear, the disease emerges after some form of trauma: an infection, a physical injury, the stress of pregnancy, severe stress or surgery. What are the risk factors of Celiac Disease?
Although celiac disease can affect anyone, it tends to be more common in people who have:
- Type 1 diabetes
- Autoimmune thyroid disease
- Down syndrome
- Microscopic colitis, particularly collagenous colitis
Additionally, certain genes — HLA-DQ2 and DQ8 — are associated with an increased risk of celiac disease. But, experts also suspect that other, as yet unknown, genes also play a role in the development of celiac disease.
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