Cultivated Wheat
Gluten
Sensitivity Profiile (Coeliac Disease)
What
is Gluten?
Gluten is the protein constituent of
certain grains including wheat, oats, rye,
barley and spelt. Many
people can have an adverse reaction
to these grains, which in extreme cases manifests itself as Coeliac Disease
(coeliac sprue or gluten sensitivity
enteropathy) This is caused by an inability
to properly digest foods containing the
gliadin fraction of gluten. Many people who would not necessarily be diagnosed as coeliac,
also find that
their health improves dramatically with the removal of gluten from their
diet.
What
causes Coeliac Disease?
Coeliac
disease has a genetic component and may
affect several family members. It affects
twice as many women as men and most often
affects people of north-western European
ancestry.
It
is thought Coeliac Disease can also be
triggered by emotional stress and physical
trauma
In susceptible people
gluten-containing grains damage the lining
of the small intestine. It
is believed that the body responds to gluten
as if it is an antigen and launches an
immune-system attack, which in turn causes the lining of the small
intestine to swell. As a result, tiny
hair-like projections called villi suffer
damage, which impairs the body’s ability
to absorb vital nutrients
Symptoms of Coeliac Disease?
Coeliac
patients do no absorb nutrients well and can easily
become malnourished. Some people have
coeliac
disease without symptoms, while others can
be very ill. Symptoms are characterised by
recurring attacks of diarrhoea, abdominal
cramps, gas, weakness, and streatorrheoa (grey
and fatty stools). Less common symptoms are
arthritis and epilepsy accompanied by folic
acid deficiency. Anaemia is also common as
is nausea, abdominal swelling, foul-smelling
stools, joint pain, infant malnutrition,
failure to gain weight, poor appetite, and
gas. Coeliac Disease is usually identified in
childhood but can disappear and reappear in
adulthood and even first occurrence could
occur in adulthood.
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