Having a gluten allergy---or celiac disease, which is an autoimmune digestive disease---causes damage to the villi in the small intestines, and prevents proper absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream whenever gluten, which is found in barley, wheat and rye, is consumed. If left untreated, celiac disease can lead to cancer, thyroid disease, osteoporosis and a variety of other autoimmune diseases.
Symptoms
According to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, there are hundreds of symptoms of celiac disease; complicating matters, symptoms vary from one person to the next, making it difficult to diagnose the disease. Some of the common symptoms include abdominal pain, constipation and an itchy skin rash as well as fatigue, infertility, irritability and discolored teeth. When malnutrition occurs, anemia, slowed growth and weight loss also are typical. Some patients develop symptoms early in life, but others don't show signs of having the disease until adulthood.
Diagnosis
Diagnosing gluten allergy is challenging because many symptoms can be attributed to other diseases. To diagnose gluten allergy, the following blood tests will most likely be ordered: gA antitissue transglutaminase (tTG), total IgA and IgA antiendomysial antibody immunofluorescence (EMA). If the IgA proves problematic, an IgG tTG test---and, possibly, an antigliaden IgG---will be ordered. It's also possible that a biopsy of the small intestine will be done.
Treatment and Diet
The only way to treat celiac disease is to eat a diet free of gluten. That means avoiding all foods containing rye, barley and wheat, the latter of which includes spelt, kamut and triticale. However, that doesn't mean pasta and bread have to be avoided; rather, they must be made with alternative ingredients, such as potato, soy, rice or bean flour. Other alternative foods include tapioca starch, quinoa, buckwheat and almond flour.
Related Diseases
Celiac disease has been linked to numerous other conditions, such as type 1 diabetes, osteoporosis, migraines and infertility as well as autism, dermatitis herpetiformis (an itchy, blistering skin condition) and Sjögren's syndrome, an immune system disorder in which the body attacks its own tissues and cells. It also has been tied to juvenile idiopathic arthritis, intestinal cancer, depression, down syndrome and turner syndrome (a chromosomal condition in which females lack the second sex chromosome).
