Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate a protein called gluten, found in wheat, rye, and barley.
Celiac Disease and Gluten
Gluten is found mainly in foods, but it is also in products we use every day, such as stamp and envelope adhesive, medicines, and vitamins.
When people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the small intestine. The tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine are damaged or destroyed. The protrusions, called villi, normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, regardless of the quantity of food eaten.
Celiac disease research scientists are still trying to figure out the exact cause or causes of celiac disease. At this point, they believe that celiac disease is a type of autoimmune disease and that certain genes and environmental factors play a role in a person developing the disease.
Celiac disease is a genetic disease, meaning it runs in families. Sometimes the disease is triggered -- or becomes active for the first time -- after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress.
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