A Diagnosis of Celiac Disease - No Cause for Alarm

Your physician has issued you a diagnosis of celiac disease. Your immediate reaction is probably: "What's next?"

Don't despair. Receiving a diagnosis of celiac disease is not the end of the world. It does mean that you probably need to change your diet and you may need to take medication, as well, but the condition is extremely manageable.

However, before your doctor can develop a care plan to manage your condition, he or she has to confirm that celiac disease is truly what's causing your health problems. Diagnosing the condition generally involves a discussion of your symptoms, and often a celiac disease test, which identifies levels of auto-antibodies in the blood that are higher for celiac patients. In some cases, intestinal biopsies are also conducted.

If after these tests you are issued a celiac disease diagnosis, your doctor will then likely explain how celiac disease causes symptoms in your body. Experts believe that celiac disease is an inherited condition that genetically pre-disposed some people to struggle with the consumption of foods containing gluten. Generally, celiac sufferers experience symptoms such as abdominal distress, fatigue, and, in rare cases, malnutrition, when they regularly eat these foods. Why does this happen? Gluten, a storage protein in wheat, barley, and rye, causes an auto-immune response that damages and flattens the villi, or tiny projections, that line your small intestine. As a result your body doesn't absorb nutrients properly, and symptoms occur.

Fortunately, following a proper celiac disease diagnosis, you can eliminate or reduce your symptoms, by adopting a celiac disease diet. This means avoiding foods made with wheat flour and substituting these foods with choices containing corn flour, rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, and other products.

Because millions of people have received a diagnosis of celiac disease, and public awareness of celiac disease has increased, more and more gluten-free products, labeled "GF," can be found in stores. Plus, you can cook and bake your own foods from gluten-free recipes. Before making any dietary changes, however, contact your physician.