Could You Have Celiac Disease And Not Even Know It?

Celiac disease, an inflammatory reaction to a protein called gliadin that is found in gluten in wheat, barley, and rye, causes severe digestive distress and nutritional deficiencies that are hard to miss. The full-blown symptoms of celiac disease, which inspire drastic changes in diet, are only diagnosed in about 1 in 3000 people.

What Is Celiac Disease?

Celiac disease, which is also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy or tropical sprue, is a condition of chronic inflammation in the lower digestive tract. Celiac is caused by an autoimmune reaction to gluten, the umbrella term for the proteins found in grains such as wheat, rye, and barley. In celiac disease, the immune system generates antigens (which are toxins) in the presence of certain proteins from wheat, barley, and rye, and these antigens activate T cells that attack the lining of the intestines as if they were an infection.

The most common symptom of celiac disease is frequent bouts of diarrhea, by which the body expels the irritant chemicals from grain, along with all the other digested food in the gut. Celiac disease also triggers mild to severe abdominal cramping, boborygmus (a growling or rumbling stomach), and severe flatulence.

The condition interferes with the body's ability to absorb fat, which has to be expelled as greasy, smelly, floating stool. Nutrients that have to be absorbed with fat, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, and minerals become harder to absorb, so patients may come to suffer from severe nutritional deficiencies that cause skin problems and brittle bones over time.

What Is Silent Celiac Disease?

If you have the full-blown symptoms of celiac disease, there is no doubt you know you have them. Doctors do not have any difficulty diagnosing celiac disease that causes severe, disabling symptoms in patients. When celiac disease is "silent" or "atypical," however, the diagnosis — and the diet that prevents future symptoms — may be overlooked, even when you do visit your doctor.

Silent celiac disease can be recognized by saliva test for antigens to gliadin, the gluten protein in wheat, barley, and rye, but may not cause any noteworthy symptoms.

Atypical celiac disease may result in nutritional deficiencies that cause infertility, iron-deficiency anemia, or osteoporosis, without the diarrhea, cramping, tummy rumbles, and flatulence that characterize the full-fledged disease.

People who have full-fledged celiac disease are usually very thin, and even emaciated. People who have silent or atypical celiac disease, however, are often overweight, due to the accumulation of inflammatory substances and inflammatory white blood cells in belly fat. The sheer mass of white blood cells may account for up to 1/3 of abdominal "fat."

Only about 1 person in 3000 is diagnosed with celiac disease. As many as 1 persons in 100 may be living with silent or atypical celiac disease, however, with vague symptoms that don't quite add up to a condition that doctors ordinarily treat. Fortunately, it is not difficult to find out whether you have a mild form of celiac disease that can cause nutritional deficiencies and, paradoxically, overweight.

How To Find Out Whether You Have Silent Celiac Disease

It's not difficult to find out whether you have silent or atypical celiac disease. You don't even need to take a blood test. A simple saliva test can detect antibodies to gliadin, and the best news is that you don't even have to see your doctor to take this saliva test.

Gliadin testing is available through Cyrex Labs for about $169. You may also be able to order the test through Great Plains Laboratories. You may not be able to order the test on your own in New York or Connecticut, but in most other states and most other countries you can simply order the saliva test online, wait for the company to send you a saliva sample collection tube, and send the tube back in a prepaid Fedex envelope. You can then simply wait for an email with your results.

Getting the test at your doctor's office typically costs about $350 for the test and $250 for the doctor's interpretation, although doctor's visits may be covered by insurance.

What kinds of vague symptoms may actually be caused by atypical celiac disease, you wonder? An astonishing number of complaints can be aggravated by celiac sensitivity, including:

• Problems with weak tooth enamel necessitating frequent trips to the dentist.

• Canker sores.

• Itchy skin.

• Skin rashes.

• Migraine.

• Muscle deterioration.

• Brain stem malformations.

• Low white blood cell count (neutropenia).

• Bone fractures.

• Frequent infections.

• Gastroesophageal reflux disease.

• An overactive (followed by underactive) thyroid.

• Weight gain, especially around the waist and hips.

Researchers believe that since more than one gene is involved in coding the proteins that activate T cells to behave abnormally in the presence of gluten, people with different numbers of genes for celiac disease may have different severalties of Celiac disease symptoms. Gluten sensitivity is not always inborn, however, as it can also be triggered by colon surgery, cardiovascular disease, ischemical bowel disease, chemotherapy, and severe bowel infections. It is possible to have been free of celiac disease earlier in life and to develop the condition after a major bowel problem occurs later in life.

What do you do if the test for atypical Celiac disease comes back positive? It's a good idea to let your doctor know about the results, even though the real work of beating wheat and related problems in your diet is really up to you. And it's a good idea to start eliminating every from of wheat, barley, and rye from your diet. Typically, people who have borderline celiac symptoms can tolerate oats, although even this should be cut back.

And that's all the treatment that is required for this form of the disease. Getting the wheat out of your life may make a major difference in how you feel and in your basic good health, even if it's difficult at first because wheat is everywhere. If you have only mild symptoms, you may not have to be quite as ruthless about getting wheat out of your diet as people who have full-blown symptoms of the disease, but every grain-free meal helps you get better.