Celiac disease is called an immune-mediated enteropathy, manifested in genetically predisposed individuals, with their exposure to prolamins. Prolamins are wheat endosperm proteins. Today, the term gluten is used to describe the whole group of prolamins (wheat, rye, barley and oat). It is characterized by an inadequate inflammatory response to gluten in genetically predisposed individuals. Celiac disease is diagnosed through a gastroscopy and biopsy, which must be performed while the patient has not removed gluten from their diet.
The only treatment for celiac disease with the data so far is lifelong adherence to a Gluten Free Diet (GFD). So far, all studies show that DEG can lead to a significant improvement in symptoms, biochemical tests and quality of life of patients. Adherence to the ED plays a very important role in the outcome of the disease and the course of the patient's health and treatment. Celiac disease is recognized as one of the most common autoimmune diseases today with an incidence of 1%.
It is classified in several ways, one of which is based on the appearance or not of symptoms in patients, and is the following:
1) Classic celiac disease: presents signs and symptoms mainly from the gastrointestinal tract.
2) Asymptomatic celiac disease: patients do not show symptoms, but the characteristic intestinal damage is observed in the histological findings of the biopsy.
3) Atypical celiac disease: usually presents with extra-gastrointestinal symptoms, such as metabolic diseases, insufficient growth in children, thyroid gland dysfunction, neurological disorders (eg depression), infertility, dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) and skeletal disorders.
4) Persistent Celiac Disease: In a percentage of patients with celiac disease, their symptoms persist, despite their strict adherence to the Gluten Free Diet.
The symptoms of celiac disease can be grouped into two broad categories: gastrointestinal and extra-gastrointestinal.
- The classic gastrointestinal manifestations of celiac disease result from atrophy of the small intestine and are diarrhea, steatorrhea, abdominal pain and bloating.
- The most common gastrointestinal symptoms that appear at diagnosis are osteopenia-osteoporosis and anemia.
Apart from these patients with celiac disease, there is no official guideline anywhere in current bibliography that highlights the beneficial effect of the gluten-free diet on weight loss. There is no scientific evidence of a negative effect of gluten consumption on the general population. Gluten intolerance is diagnosed only through biopsy and laboratory tests and not at all by "intolerance tests" and bioreconciliation methods