Gluten Allergy in Celiac Disease
There are some substances in the environment which creates problem in the immune system. Those are called as the allergen; body becomes more sensitive to these allergens.
Some people say that celiac disease is caused due to the allergy of the wheat but it is different from the allergy of the wheat. The person who is having allergy of the wheat will show the symptoms like acne and sneezing but in celiac disease body becomes more sensitive to the gluten.
Gluten present in cereals is the main allergens causing celiac disease. The first targeted part of gluten is always small intestine. It is not exactly allergy but body shows intolerance to the gluten.
What happens when gluten is consumed?
- Intestine is the longest organ in the body. Small intestine performs important function of the digestion and absorption of the digested food material like carbohydrate, fats, proteins and vitamins.
- Intestine is the boundary line between you and the outer environment
- The immune system kills the harmful foreign particles including microbes called antigen
- WBC produces antibodies which kill the antigens
- But in the celiac disease, body recognizes its own tissue as a antigen and kill it; it is called as autoimmunity
- Basically in the allergic reaction, antibodies with the allergens release some chemical which caused the allergic reaction.
- Gluten attacks villi or undulations of the small intestine which performs the function of absorption
- There is a five to ten percent chance of causing celiac disease to the relatives of the first level. Disease can affect to both the sexes, as it is not sex related disease.
- The disease can show the effect at any stage of development. In some infants the intolerance for gluten is seen when first time gluten is given to him/her.
Two things are necessary to caused the celiac disease
- Genetic factor: The genes which is related to the autoimmune system. In ninety percent patients, these types of genes are found which directly act on the tissue of small intestine.
- Environmental factor: It is a outside factor, patients consume the food products containing gluten and it causes destruction of the villi.
Yet, there is no specific medicine available to cure the disease but this disease is caused due to the gluten intolerance so avoiding gluten is the only treatment to cure the disease.
The severity of the celiac disease differs from person to person. Generally all patient shows nausea, vomiting, cramps in muscles of stomach and breathing problem. Those who are very sensitive to the gluten show severe damage to the small intestine.
