Celiac Disease Research Paper

Origin of the name/history of the disease The name celiac comes from "coeliac" which is derived from the Greek Koilia, which means belly. The "coeliac flux" is an old expression meaning the same as diarrhea. The disease celiac is not just diarrhea though it just means that the disease pertains to the abdomen. The celiac disease comes from early farmers and hunters. But because the wheat and grain of the crops and fields did not have high levels of gluten they were not exposed to the disease very often. Those who were infected would contract other diseases due to excessive defense. The disease did not hit hard until industrial quantities of gluten were introduced. The disease usually affects children at birth so you would think the disease would just die off. Wrong. The hinters and farmers developed an excessive defense to the disease. The defense would focus on the disease, which would make the person affected susceptible to other viruses. Also, breast-feeding preserves some children from the disease. The antibodies from the milk help fight the infections.

Loci of the gene/populations at risk/how common

Celiac has been mapped to the major histocompatibillity on chromosome 6.
Celiac mostly affects people of European descent and rarely affects blacks or Asians. It affects infants and can kill them at birth due to infections, malnutrition, and malabsorption. Those affected suffer damage to the villi in certain regions of the intestines. Sometimes the disease becomes triggered after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, v infection or severe emotional stress. The longer someone was breastfed the later the symptoms appear. Celiac is the most common disease in Europe. In Italy 1 in 250 people have celiac and in Ireland about 1 in 300 people have it. About 1 in 4,700 people in America have Celiac. This is uncommon since Americans are descendants of Europeans. Red Cross had a recent study in which they took random blood samples and tested them for Celiac. The study suggested that 1 in 250 Americans have celiac, which shows that Americans are extremely under diagnosed.

Phenotypes/diagnosing the disorder

There are such a vast variety of symptoms in celiac that it can be very hard to diagnose. Symptoms may or may not be in the abdomen. One person can have diarrhea or abdominal pain while another has irritability and depression. Irritability is the most common symptom in children. Some symptoms of the disease are:
Ø Recurring abdominal bloating and pain
Ø Chronic Diarrhea
Ø Weight loss
Ø Pale foul smelling stool
Ø Unexplained low red blood cell count

Ø Gas
Ø Bone pain
Ø Behavior changes
Ø Muscle cramps
Ø Fatigue
Ø Delayed growth
Ø Failure to thrive as an infant
Ø Pain in the joints
Ø Seizures
Ø Tingling numbness in the legs
Ø Ulcers in the mouth
Ø Skin rash called dermatitis hepetiformis
Ø Tooth discolorations or loss of enamel
Ø Missed menstrual periods

Celiac disease symptoms are similar to those of other diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulosis, intestine infections, chronic fatigue syndrome, and depression.
This makes the disease hard to diagnose. There are only a handful of laboratories able to test for celiac and some doctors don't even know about the disease. Recent researchers have found that people with celiac disease have high levels of certain antibodies to gluten such as antigliadin, anti-endomysium, and antireticulum. Doctors test for celiac by testing the levels of these antibodies. If the test shows they have the disease doctors must perform a biopsy testing intestine tissue for damage to the villi. The only definite test for celiac is a gluten-free
diet.

Treatment/lifespan

There is no cure fore celiac disease but fortunately there is a treatment. The only treatment is a strict adherence to a 100% gluten-free diet. Which means no wheat, rye, oats, barley and other products with gluten. Celiac is not a direct life threatening disease but not adhering to the gluten-free diet can cause gastrointestinal cancer, which in turn could be fatal. The gluten-free diet is a lifetime requirement.