Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. In other words people that have this disease cannot tolerate gluten which is a protein in wheat. So people who have this cannot eat anything with wheat in it. This includes all breads, pasta, pastries, and a lot of other foods. If people have this disease then when they eat gluten the villi (small finger-like protrusions) lining the small intestine get damaged or destroyed. If this happens then a person can become malnourished and food in the small intestine will not be absorbed properly. Some symptoms include abdominal bloating and pain in stomach area, vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss.
I have Celiac disease, and I had to change my diet to gluten free. The reason that the doctors found I have this is from my sister. My sister has had stomach problems for a long time and so she went to the doctors. They ran a bunch of tests and finally found that she had Celiac disease. Then the doctors told us that my whole family had to get tested for this because it is hereditary. So that’s how they found out that I have it too. Four to 12 percent of an affected person’s first-degree relatives will also have the disease. If you want more info you can go to: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/#what