Coeliac disease (also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy or coeliac sprue) is a condition of the small intestine. Gluten, a substance found in wheat, barley and rye, reacts with the small bowel, causing damage by activating the immune system to attack the delicate lining of the bowel, which is responsible for absorbing nutrients and vitamins. The condition is often diagnosed in childhood after weaning when cereals are introduced into the diet, although it can be diagnosed at any age. The symptoms can be subtle, and you may feel unwell for no reason for some time before the diagnosis is made. If left untreated, coeliac disease can lead to anaemia, bone disease and, rarely, some forms of cancer. The most important treatment is avoiding all food that contains gluten. This usually results in improvement, or even disappearance, of the damage to the lining of the bowel. However, the damage will recur if gluten is re-introduced into the diet.
Coeliac disease or celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small bowel that occurs in genetically predisposed individuals in all age groups after early infancy. Symptoms may include diarrhoea, failure to thrive (in children) and fatigue, but these may be absent and associated symptoms in all other organ systems have been described. It affects approximately 1% of Caucasian populations, though it is significantly underdiagnosed.
