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This article is from YumaSun.com:
http://sun.yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_14154.php

Celiac disease can be mistaken for irritable bowel syndrome

BY PAUL G. DONOHUE, M.D. Jan 10, 2005


DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I was told by six different doctors that I had irritable
bowel syndrome. Thanks to a determined doctor, I have been diagnosed with
celiac disease. How could this have been missed by all those other doctors
for all those years? -- K.B.

ANSWER: Celiac disease was once considered an exotic disorder but is now
becoming a commonly diagnosed illness because of the medical community's
increased awareness of it and of its often-subtle signs. Some investigators
say that in a group of 100 people, there will be one person who has celiac
disease. That makes it a very prevalent condition. It can come on at any
age, but it often does so between the ages of 10 and 30 or when children are
first given foods made from grains.

Classic symptoms of it include diarrhea, gas, bloating, abdominal pain and
weight loss. All of those can be attributed to many other digestive tract
problems, and celiac disease is often erroneously diagnosed as irritable
bowel syndrome. That's not an excuse or an explanation for your plight; it's
a statement of fact.

Frequently, celiac disease does not exhibit the typical features, and that
makes the diagnosis even harder to pin down. Celiac patients might not have
diarrhea or abdominal pain. They can show up at the doctor's office with
anemia or with osteoporosis due to the inability of their intestines to
absorb iron or calcium.

The pathology of celiac disease comes from a small intestine that is
irritated by gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. Celiac
patients are sensitive to it. It's a toxin to their digestive tracts. It
inflames them and makes the absorption of nutrients difficult to impossible.

Treatment is the fastidious avoidance of those grains. After about two weeks
on a diet free of gluten, 90 percent of celiac patients are feeling markedly
improved. A gluten-free diet is something that demands instruction from a
dietitian. Gluten is in many products that give no indications they contain
it -- ketchup, for example.

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *