You have trouble with bread and pasta. Do you have celiac disease or a food sensitivity?
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten consumption. Gluten is a protein found in grains like wheat, barley and rye. It is also used to bind processed foods together. Genetic tests can show celiac disease, and many members within a family can have celiac. About one percent of the population has celiac disease, and the vast majority don’t know they have it. People can struggle with symptoms for six to ten years before being diagnosed.
Non-celiac gluten sensitivity applies to folks who feel better when they avoid gluten. They do not have celiac disease.
Celiac Disease Symptoms
- Bloating, gas or abdominal pain
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- General fatigue
- Itchy skin
- Tooth discoloration
- Joint pain
- Irritability
- Weight loss
- Delayed growth in children
- Fractures and thin bones
- Migraine headaches
- Infertility or miscarriages
- Association with other autoimmune diseases
Testing for celiac disease is inexpensive and easy. Request a test from your doctor as soon as you suspect. Better to be cautious than have side effects that cannot be undone.
Listen as Dr. Marie Robert joins Dr. Mike Smith to discuss celiac disease and the importance of testing.
Featuring:
Marie Robert, MD
Dr. Marie Robert is a nationally recognized gastrointestinal (GI) liver and pancreatic surgical pathologist with 25 years of experience in clinical diagnosis, teaching and collaborative scientific endeavors across a wide spectrum of diseases, including inflammatory and neoplastic conditions of the GI tract.
Dr. Robert served for 10 years as the Director of the Program in Gastrointestinal Pathology and Director of the Fellowship in Gastrointestinal Pathology at Yale University. She is an invited author of gastroenterology guidelines for use in practice for the American Gastroenterology Association, North American Society for the Study of Celiac Disease (NASSCD), and the Rodger Haggitt Gastrointestinal Pathology Society.
Dr. Robert began studying celiac disease during her residency training at UCLA, performing a study of longitudinal biopsy findings in refractory celiac patients. She is the lead author on the recently published Statement on Best Practices in the Use of Pathology as a Diagnostic Tool for Celiac Disease: A Guide for Clinicians and Pathologists in the American Journal of Surgical Pathology. She is also the senior investigator on a study of the pitfalls of testing biopsies in the evaluation of refractory celiac disease. Additional publications on celiac disease include the chapter on inflammatory conditions of the small intestine in the Odze, Goldblum and Crawford (eds) textbook Surgical Pathology of the Gastrointestinal Tract, Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas, considered the definitive text in GI surgical pathology worldwide. Currently, Dr. Robert leads a multinational study of more than 15 institutions on causes for and findings in repeat duodenal biopsies in celiac disease patients.
In addition to serving as the Beyond Celiac CSO, Dr. Robert is also Professor of Pathology and Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Robert is part of an international consortium of pathologists and gastroenterologists defining biopsy findings in early histologic stages of celiac disease. She is a frequent invited speaker on celiac disease nationally and internationally.
