| Medical Dictionary |
A Medical Dictionary of Medical Terminology
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Celiac disease is a chronic (long-term) digestive and immune disorder that damages your small intestine. The damage may prevent your body from absorbing vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients from the food you eat. This can lead to malnutrition and other serious health problems
Celiac disease is triggered by eating foods that contain gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and other grains. It may also be in other products like vitamins and supplements, hair and skin products, toothpastes, and lip balm.
Celiac disease is different from gluten sensitivity. Both involve problems with gluten and can cause some of the same symptoms, such as abdominal (belly) pain and fatigue. But gluten sensitivity does not damage the small intestine like celiac disease does.
Wheat allergy, a type of food allergy, is also different. With both celiac disease and wheat allergy, your immune system is reacting to wheat. But with wheat allergy, you can have some different symptoms, such as itchy eyes or trouble breathing. And a wheat allergy will not cause long-term damage to the small intestine.
What causes celiac disease?The exact cause of celiac disease is not known. Research suggests that celiac disease only happens in people who have certain genes and eat food that contains gluten. Researchers are studying other factors that may play a role in causing the disease.
Who is more likely to develop celiac disease?Celiac disease is more common if you:
The symptoms of celiac disease can be different from person to person. Sometimes the symptoms may come and go. Some people may not notice any symptoms.
Some of the possible symptoms affect your digestive system. Digestive symptoms are more common in children than in adults. The digestive symptoms include:
Some people with celiac disease have symptoms that affect other parts of the body, such as:
Over time, celiac disease can cause other health problems, especially if it is not treated. These problems can include:
If you have symptoms of celiac disease, your health care provider will look for signs that you might have celiac disease. To do this, your provider will get your medical and family history and do a physical exam.
If your provider thinks that you could have celiac disease, you will have some tests. Providers most often use blood tests and biopsies of the small intestine to diagnose celiac disease. The biopsy would be done during an upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. For this procedure, your provider uses an endoscope (a flexible tube with a camera) to see the lining of your esophagus, stomach, and small intestine. It also allows your provider to take a sample of tissue for a biopsy.
What are the treatments for celiac disease?The treatment for celiac disease is following a gluten-free diet for the rest of your life. Sticking with a gluten-free diet will treat or prevent many of the symptoms and other health problems caused by celiac disease. In most cases, it can also heal damage in the small intestine and prevent more damage.
Your provider may refer you to a registered dietician (a nutrition expert) who can help you learn how to eat a healthy diet without gluten. You will also need to avoid all hidden sources of gluten, such as certain supplements, cosmetics, toothpaste, etc. Reading product labels can sometimes help you avoid gluten. If a label doesn't tell you what is in a product, check with the company that makes the product for an ingredients list. Don't just assume that a product is gluten-free if it doesn't mention it.
NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. It is found mainly in foods. But it may also be in other products like medicines, vitamins, and supplements. People with gluten sensitivity have problems with gluten. Gluten sensitivity may sometimes be called non-celiac gluten sensitivity or gluten intolerance.
Gluten sensitivity is different from celiac disease. Both involve problems with gluten. They can also cause some of the same symptoms, such as abdominal (belly) pain and fatigue. But celiac disease causes damage to the small intestine. Gluten sensitivity does not.
Wheat allergy, a type of food allergy, is also different from gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. A wheat allergy can cause some different symptoms, such as itchy eyes or trouble breathing. A wheat allergy does not damage the small intestine.
In addition to abdominal pain and fatigue, gluten sensitivity can cause digestive symptoms. They may include gas, diarrhea, and constipation. You may also have other symptoms such as headaches, joint pain, and rashes.
Researchers are still learning more about gluten sensitivity. If your health care provider thinks you have it, they may suggest that you stop eating gluten to see if your symptoms go away. However, you should first be tested to make sure that you don't have celiac disease. This may be done with a blood test or biopsies of the small intestine.
The symptoms of gluten sensitivity usually get better with a gluten-free diet. But it's important to make sure that you are still getting enough vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Your provider or a dietician can help you plan your diet.
Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health
Your small intestine does most of the digesting of the foods you eat. If you have a malabsorption syndrome, your small intestine cannot absorb nutrients from foods.
Causes of malabsorption syndromes include:
Symptoms of different malabsorption syndromes can vary. They often include chronic diarrhea, abnormal stools, weight loss, and gas. Your doctor may use lab, imaging, or other tests to make a diagnosis.
Treatment of malabsorption syndromes depends on the cause.
Diabetes means your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. With type 1 diabetes, your pancreas does not make insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps glucose get into your cells to give them energy. Without insulin, too much glucose stays in your blood. Over time, high blood glucose can lead to serious problems with your heart, eyes, kidneys, nerves, and gums and teeth.
Type 1 diabetes happens most often in children and young adults but can appear at any age. Symptoms may include:
A blood test can show if you have diabetes. If you do, you will need to take insulin for the rest of your life. A blood test called the A1C can check to see how well you are managing your diabetes.
NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Your small intestine is part of your digestive system. It is a long tube that connects your stomach to your large intestine. Intestinal cancer is rare, but eating a high-fat diet or having Crohn's disease, celiac disease, or a history of colonic polyps can increase your risk.
Possible signs of small intestine cancer include:
Imaging tests that create pictures of the small intestine and the area around it can help diagnose intestinal cancer and show whether it has spread.
Surgery is the most common treatment. Additional options include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a combination.
NIH: National Cancer Institute
Iron is a mineral that our bodies need for growth and development. Your body uses iron to make hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells. Hemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. Iron is also important for healthy muscles, bone marrow, and organ function. Your body also needs iron to make some hormones.
How do you get iron?Iron is found naturally in many foods and is added to some fortified food products. Foods that are high in iron include:
Iron is available in supplements, either on its own or as part of many multivitamin/mineral supplements.
What causes low iron?Most people in the United States get enough iron. The amount that you need each day depends on your age, your sex, and whether you consume a mostly plant-based diet.
Sometimes people can have trouble getting enough iron. There can be many causes, including blood loss, a poor diet, or a problem absorbing enough iron from foods. Those who are more likely to have low iron include people who:
If you have too little iron, you may develop iron-deficiency anemia. It may not cause symptoms at first, but over time, it can cause fatigue, shortness of breath, and trouble with memory and concentration. Treatment for low iron and iron-deficiency anemia is usually with iron supplements.
What happens if you get too much iron?Too much iron can damage your body. For example, if you are healthy and take too many iron supplements, you may have symptoms such as constipation, nausea and vomiting, abdominal (belly) pain, and diarrhea. Higher iron levels can cause ulcers. Extremely high levels can lead to organ damage, coma, and death.
A disease called hemochromatosis can cause too much iron to build up in the body. Hemochromatosis is inherited (passed down through families). It is usually treated by removing blood (and iron) from your body on a regular basis.
National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements
Rickets causes soft, weak bones in children. It usually occurs when they do not get enough vitamin D, which helps growing bones absorb the minerals calcium and phosphorous. It can also happen when calcium or phosphorus levels are too low.
Your child might not get enough vitamin D if he or she:
In addition to dietary rickets, children can get an inherited form of the disease. Symptoms include bone pain or tenderness, impaired growth, and deformities of the bones and teeth. Your child's doctor uses lab and imaging tests to make the diagnosis. Treatment is replacing the calcium, phosphorus, or vitamin D that are lacking in the diet. Rickets is rare in the United States.
Your small intestine is the longest part of your digestive system - about twenty feet long! It connects your stomach to your large intestine (or colon) and folds many times to fit inside your abdomen. Your small intestine does most of the digesting of the foods you eat. It has three areas called the duodenum, the ileum, and the jejunum.
Problems with the small intestine can include:
Treatment of disorders of the small intestine depends on the cause.
Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. It makes hormones that control the way the body uses energy. These hormones affect nearly every organ in your body and control many of your body's most important functions. For example, they affect your breathing, heart rate, weight, digestion, and moods.
Thyroid diseases cause your thyroid to make either too much or too little of the hormones. Some of the different thyroid diseases include:
To diagnose thyroid diseases, your health care provider may use a medical history, physical exam, and thyroid tests. In some cases, your provider may also do a biopsy.
Treatment depends on the problem, how severe it is, and what your symptoms are. Possible treatments may include medicines, radioiodine therapy, or thyroid surgery.
Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health
Vitamins are substances that your body needs to grow and develop normally. Vitamin D is important to your body because:
You can get vitamin D in three ways: through your skin, from your diet, and from supplements. Your body forms vitamin D naturally after exposure to sunlight. However, too much sun exposure can lead to skin aging and skin cancer. So many people try to get their vitamin D from other sources.
Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D. Most people get vitamin D in their diet from foods that are fortified. This means that vitamin D is added to the food. These foods may include milk, cereal, and yogurt. Foods that naturally have vitamin D include egg yolks, saltwater fish, and liver.
Vitamin D is available in supplements. It is also included in many multivitamins. The two forms of vitamin D in supplements are D2 and D3. Both types increase vitamin D in your blood, but D3 might raise it higher and for longer than D2. Vitamin D is fat soluble. You can absorb it better when you take your supplements with a meal or snack that includes some fat.
How much vitamin D do I need?The amount of vitamin D you need each day depends on your age. The recommended amounts, in international units (IU), are:
But certain people may need extra vitamin D, such as:
Check with your health care provider to see if you need to take vitamin D supplements, and if so, how much you should take. Your provider may want to first do a vitamin D test to see if you are getting enough of it.
NIH: National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements