Diseases of the Digestive System

Celiac Disease is a genetic, autoimmune disorder in which the digestive tract becomes hypersensitive to gluten. If a parent, child, or sibling has the disease, you have a 10% of getting it.  Around 3 million Americans have this disease.  When gluten is consumed by someone with Celiac, their body overreacts to the protein, damaging their villi.  This leads to improper absorption of nutrients in food and eventually malnourishment.

 

Just because one has the genes for it doesn’t automatically mean that they will get it.  A stressful event like surgery, trauma, or viral infection can trigger it. Most common among Caucasians who have had or have down syndrome, type 1 diabetes, Turner syndrome, or Addison’s disease.