Existing treatment for Celiac Disease

Instead of going round and round, I’m going to tell you now: there’s no existing treatment that could cure Celiac disease. There’s no one medicine that can help eliminate the symptoms. There’s no one operation that can solve the problem. 

However, there are ways to manage the disease. The symptoms are bad and can be dangerous, but with proper measures, you can live a normal life without any complications or problems. The basic, and probably the best, way to manage the disease is through your diet. 

Celiac disease is a digestive condition that is caused when you eat the protein gluten. So this means eating food like bread, pasta, pizza crust and other foods made or containing wheat, barley or rye can easily cause the condition. What happens is that gluten damages the villi inside the small intestines. Since the villi are responsible for the absorption of minerals from the food we eat, without them the body will not be able to get the necessary nutrients and minerals it needs. So you can see where this can lead to when not managed correctly: severe malnutrition which can then cause other serious ailments resulting from the body’s lack of nutrition. 

Why some people develop gluten intolerance is still not known. The disease was earlier thought as a condition only affecting people in Europe. But recent studies have shown that the disease is not dependent on the age and ethnicity. One thing is certain though, the condition is inherited. The condition can arise at any time but usually is triggered by the consumption of gluten. 

Removing the gluten in the diet is the key to reduce the inflammation in the small intestines caused by the disease. The effects can be noticed weeks after the change in the diet. If you have been suffering from the symptoms of the disease and have been diagnosed with celiac disease only recently, you might need to take vitamin supplements to recover from the nutritional deficiencies. The difficulties of diagnosing celiac disease lie on the fact that the symptoms and conditions resemble other digestive conditions or allergic reactions. 

Those with celiac disease have to understand that they need to be on a life long gluten free diet since the inflammation of the small intestines can be triggered again. So a commitment to a lifestyle change is needed for them to be free of the symptoms of the disease. 

A gluten free diet simply means avoiding food products that contain, are made and/or have been prepared from wheat, oats, barley and rye. This means reading carefully food labels and making sure that the food you will be picking up from the supermarket shelves are gluten free. Fortunately, there are products today which are gluten free. You can come up with alternative dishes as well. 

Aside from the grains, you should start avoiding bear and alcohol products as well. Food made from brown rice syrup, cake flour, and caramel can also trigger the disease. Anything creamed or breaded which includes vegetables. Fried chicken has been found to set off the disease as well. 

Other foods to be avoided include pastas, salad dressings, gravies and sauces prepared from tomato and meat, soft cheeses, dips, stuffings, herbal teas and even flavored coffees. It is especially important that you consult a proper dietitian to help you create a list of food that you can and cannot eat. 

This is really the only existing treatment for celiac disease. Once the gluten is removed from the diet, the intestine’s villi will start to heal and grow back. This may take several months to years depending on the amount of damage caused by the disease and the age of the person who contracted it. The healing process will take longer for older people.