Celiac disease symptoms can vary from person to person and they might be experienced due to other causes and not necessary because of celiac disease. Celiac disease is a medical condition in which the small intestine is damaged and as a result the absorption of food nutrients becomes abnormal. Gluten cannot be tolerated by patient suffering from this disease. Gluten can be found in wheat rye and barley and sometimes in medicines, vitamins and lip balms.
Consuming foods or products containing gluten is prohibited for celiac disease patients because when it is ingested, it causes a response of the immune system that damages the villi (small protrusions lining the small intestine). Villi are very important in the process of nutrient absorption as they allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the intestine. A lack of healthy villi causes a person to be malnourished regardless of how much one eats.
The main symptoms of celiac disease include chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating, vomiting, constipation or weight loss. However, the symptoms may vary from individual to individual and they might occur within the digestive system or in another part of the body. Digestive symptoms are more common in infants and young children, although they can also appear in adults.
Adults may rarely experience digestive symptoms of celiac disease. Instead, they are more likely to develop other symptoms that at a first glance do not seem to be pointing out a digestive problem such as fatigue, arthritis, bone or joint pain, osteoporosis, depression or anxiety, seizures and even missed menstrual periods. Some adults might experience numbness in the hands and feet or canker sores in the mouth. Others on the other hand may develop herpetiformis dermatitis rash. Herpetiformis dermatitis rash is one of the symptoms that does not appear to be connected with a problem lying within the digestive system and it is itchy and it may appear anywhere on the skin. Moreover, some patients have no symptoms at all but can still develop complications over time such as malnutrition, liver disease or cancer of the intestine.
There is no celiac disease treatment. Actually, the only celiac disease treatment that doctors recommend to their patients is a gluten-free diet. Although most of the patients who follow this indication and avoid consuming foods that contain gluten have no further problems or complications from the disease, others do not show any improvement. And yet, gluten-free diets are quite difficult to maintain given that many foods and products contain this substance. In order to help patients who suffer from celiac disease to avoid foods with gluten a new food labeling law has been adopted starting with 2006. According to it, every manufacturer of edible products and not only must specify if their product contains gluten.
To conclude, celiac disease symptoms may vary substantially from person to person or they can even miss, but it is very important to consult a doctor in case they appear.