Symptoms of Celiac Disease
Celiac disease has a wide variety of symptoms that vary from person to person. While some people can have constipation others may have the complete opposite, diarrhea. In addition to this, in some cases, people show no signs at all. Because of this range of symptoms, around 83% of people with celiac disease go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. In addition to this, people also differ in when they develop celiac disease. Depending on whether the disease is developed as a child or adult, symptoms may be different. Failure to diagnose celiac disease can lead to other serious health problems such as weak bones, certain cancer, and other autoimmune diseases.
For adults who develop celiac disease, there are more symptoms that are unrelated to the digestive system compared to those of children. These symptoms include anemia which is a decrease in red blood cells due to a lack of iron, anxiety, bloating, constipation, depression, diarrhea, tiredness, migraines, infertility, irritability, skin rash, mouth sores, failure to gain weight, thinning of the bones, and the feeling of numbness in limbs. A lot of these symptoms are directly related to the damaged villi in the small intestine as a result of ingesting gluten, which causes malnutrition.
For children who develop celiac disease, symptoms that are more related to growth. These symptoms include; short stature, failure to thrive, frequent bone fractures, delayed puberty, and loss of appetite. In addition to these, children also have some symptoms in common with those of adults. These include; chronic diarrhea or constipation, abdominal pain, vomiting, bloating, tiredness, anemia, and rashes. If celiac disease is caught early enough, some of its effects to the small intestine may be reversible. It is important to realize these signs and bring them up with the doctor early on.
The symptoms of celiac disease can be present in many different ways. There is a total of three types of celiac disease. The first type is classical celiac disease. Those who have this show mainly signs of the malnutrition. These signs are usually diarrhea, constipation, weight loss, thinning of bones, growth failure, and delayed puberty. The second type of celiac disease is non-classical celiac disease. Those who develop this time do not show as much malabsorption symptoms but show digestion problems and a variety of other signs. For example, those with non-classical celiac disease show abdominal pain, anemia, tiredness, headaches, numbness in limbs, thinning of bones, infertility, depression, anxiety, and skin rashes. Finally, the third type of celiac disease is silent celiac disease. Patients with this type show no symptoms. However, when they ingest products containing gluten there is still damage being done to their small intestine.
With all of these symptoms, it is important to keep track of what is going on in your body. If you notice any of these occurring, it is important to talk to your doctor so you can obtain a diagnosis. Early diagnosis is the best way to prevent any irreversible damage to your small intestine. In addition to this, it is also important to realize that even though you may not show any symptoms, you may still have celiac disease.
