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Here is what I wrote originally:

> I am curious as to what causes the classic "volleyball belly" (when the
> abdomen protrudes as if they have half a volley ball stuck there) among
> celiacs, particularly children and old people, who have gone undiagnosed
> for long periods of time. Certainly the gas distention is not enough to
> cause the permanent bulge in the belly.
>
> I wonder if it's not due to the malabsorption among celiacs, which causes
> the same conditions that lead to this distended abdomen in Kwashiorkors
> Disease: when people are starving for protein the body begins to digest its
> own muscle and organs so that after the muscles atrophy to a point they
> cannot any longer hold the organs in place, causing them to hang down and
> distend the belly. Just wondering, as usual. -vance

Out of all the answers, I got two very helpful answers that perhaps
finishes the explanation for this condition:

 >>You are close. It is Kwashiorkor from protein malnutrition.

The swollen belly is edema - fluid collection in the belly.When blood
protein is low,fluid leaks from the cells into the spaces between cells.
The child is too weak to stand so the fluid settles in the stomach, the
lowest available space. If you draw the fluid off, the person would be skin
and bones.<<

>I'm sure some of it is Kwashiorkors from malabsorbtion, distention from
>gas, but  lot of it is from edema of the bowel.  The CD bowel (as well as
>any other bowel disease) is so inflammed that the tissues swell with
>fluid, just like any other inflammed body part. Those three things can
>add up to quite a bit of extra bulk.

So I think maybe if we put all this together it makes sense. In the
malnutrition and lack of protein that results from the worst cases of
malabsorption, the body begins to digest it's own organs and muscles. Added
to this is that the fluid leaking from the cells into the spaces between
the cells causes edema which settles in the abdomen, causing distention
when the muscles are too weak to support the edema and the organs. Or
something like that anyway :) -vance

I would also add that there is a new ground breaking new book about ADD:
Healing Add : The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal
the Six Types of Attention Deficit Disorder by Daniel G., MD Amen
(Hardcover - February 2001) You could start by reading the last issue of
Newsweek about the practice and the book, pp. 72-73.