Celiac Sprue Disease
What if your doctor told you that eating a certain food say pizza would be devastating to your health? You might not like it, but you'd learn to live with it. But what if it was more than just pizza? What if you were told to avoid all bread, breadcrumbs, and pasta? And dozens of breakfast cereals, canned soups, luncheon meats, and salad dressings? And a wide variety of ice creams, ice cream cones, cookies, cakes, puddings, and pies? And most chewing gum, beer, canned tuna, and hot dogs? That's what it's like for people who have celiac disease. Celiac disease, also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy, celiac sprue, nontropical sprue, and idiopathic steatorrhea, is a disease whose extensive and variable symptoms challenge physicians to make a correct diagnosis in a timely fashion. The term "celiac sprue" has been applied to a clinical syndrome characterized by signs and symptoms of malabsorption, such as diarrhea and weight loss caused by eating grains. The term "gluten-sensitive enteropathy" more correctly defines the clinical pathologic disease caused by an immune-mediated sensitivity to gluten, a protein found in many cereal grains, principally wheat, barley, rye, and to a lesser degree oats. Most nutritionists agree that glu
Approximately 25% of Caucasians, in whom the disease is most common, possess the celiac disease-associated tissue-type antigens, but obviously not all of them develop the disease. Other unknown factors begin the chain reaction of immunologic injury. One possible cause is infection with common agents as viruses. At least one virus has been shown to posses a similar protein composition to toxic fractions of gluten. Theoretically, infection with this virus exposes the immune system to an antigen that is "shared" with the intestinal epithelium, or lining. Long after the virus has disappeared, the immune system continues to attack the body's own tissue, which produces celiac disease. Based on this clinical observation, scientist then determined that a water-insoluble protein component of these grains, gluten, was the substance that damaged the intestine in certain individuals. Not until the 1950s were the characteristic microscopic changes in the lining of the intestine documented. The arrival of techniques to obtain biopsy specimens of the small intestine opened the floodgates of research activity, which taught us much of what we know today about this disease. Once the immune system is activated in this way, there is progressive destruction of the surface cells that are normally responsible for absorption in the small intestine. The injury is most severe in the proximal intestine (jejunum) and becomes progressively less severe in the more distal intestine (ileum). As a result of these processes, patients with full-blown celiac sprue have malabsorption of nutrients, minerals, and water. Large quantities of undigested nutrients in the intestine are available for metabolism by bacteria. The bacteria produce gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen, which account for the bloating and gurgling seen and heard in many patients. The reason for this pattern of distribution is probably due to the fact that gluten is gradually digested and eliminated from the intestinal lumen as the meal literally progresses downstream. The most proximal intestine, called the duodenum, is the primary site for absorption of minerals such as iron, calcium, and magnesium. ten is not present in rice, white or sweet po
Some common words found in the essay are:
War II, , Ridgewood School, Dr Gee, celiac sprue, celiac disease, Samuel Gee, toxic fractions gluten, toxic fractions, intestinal lumen, signs symptoms, immune system, fractions gluten, tissue type, celiac disease-associated tissue-type, patients celiac, diarrhea weight loss, calcium magnesium, iron calcium magnesium, patients celiac sprue,
Approximate Word count = 1499
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
