Gluten Intolerance – What Exactly Is Gluten Intolerance?
Gluten intolerance is an umbrella for celiac disease, gluten allergy and gluten sensitivity. It is not the same thing as wheat allergy or gluten sensitivity, neither of which is an autoimmune disorder, but is really a sensitivity to gluten in wheat and wheat items which effects a substantial number of individuals. Gluten intolerance is an intolerance of the gluten protein found in wheat, barley, rye and oats and is an inability to digest the protein portion of many common grains including wheat, rye, and oats.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease in which a person can’t tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten intolerance is also known as celiac disease, but celiac disease is an extreme form of wheat allergy. It is really a malabsorption disease that also known by other names for example celiac sprue and gluten enteropathy. Celiac disease is also called coeliac, nontropical sprue, celiac sprue, gluten intolerant enteropathy, or gluten sensitive enteropathy. Gluten intolerance is an immune-mediated enteropathy associated with gluten-containing foods in genetically susceptible patients.
Gluten intolerance is not a food allergy, but a condition of not being able to deal with foods containing gluten. It is a gluten sensitivity or better defined, a digestive problem with any food containing gluten and is really a broad term including a myriad of sensitivity to gluten and is a general term describing conditions characterized by sensitivity to gluten. Gluten intolerance is never out-grown and people who are gluten intolerant must avoid gluten throughout their life-time.
It is believed to affect 1 in 13 people worldwide, and the figure is only growing by the day. It has been found to be most common among people of Irish, English, Scottish, Scandinavian, and Eastern European. It is categorized as an autoimmune disorder, meaning the immune system attacks it’s own body’s tissues. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system is stimulated to destroy the body’s own tissues. Celiac disease is a genetic disorder that affects your digestive system and damages your small intestines especifically the villi or microvilli. It is caused by a reaction to gliadin, one of the main proteins in gluten. Celiac disease is much more serious because malabsorption of vital nutrients occurs with every exposure to gluten.
Celiac disease is a hereditary, autoimmune disease that may become asymptomatic after a period of time on a gluten-free diet. It is a lifelong condition managed and controlled only by adapting to a gluten-free diet. Gluten intolerance can easily be managed with a change in diet which can alleviate all of most of the symptoms. Gluten intolerance is far more common than gluten allergy, and its symptoms are less obvious. It is thought to be an inflammatory process that can vary in the severity of the above gastrointestinal symptoms and is a multisystem disorder that may involve the gastrointestinal, immune, nerve, endocrine, reproductive and muscle systems. Gluten intolerance can cause symptoms ranging from mild to severe. Symptoms can be severe and serious, but in most cases they’re systemic, not immediate like symptoms of wheat intolerance.
Celiac disease can be hard to discover because its symptoms are like many other digestive diseases. Celiac disease is an auto-immune disease, which means your body starts attacking itself and its organs and can destroy healthy body tissue. As Celiac disease is genetic, blood tests and endoscopic procedures may help identify the condition.
Gluten intolerance on the other hand can be difficult to identify and diagnose with blood tests and medical investigations and laboratory testing – although there are now home kits that are very accurate in this diagnosis. It is essentially an allergy, and allergies can appear and disappear in very strange ways. It has a genetic basis, meaning it passes from generation to generation and is a condition that has been gaining recognition as a contributing factor in many health issues.
Gluten intolerance can manifest as anaemia since the broken small intestine cannot correctly absorb vitamin B12 and iron. it can lower absorption of nutrients, including magnesium and can also give way to hormone imbalance. It can also result in sudden and unhealthy weight loss or weight gain of the individual. Symptoms that adults usually have range from depression, nutrient deficiency, diarrhoea, abdominal bloating, osteoporosis, infertility and even weight loss.
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