Is it Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Undiagnosed Celiac Disease
Your doctor tells you your stomach problems are from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). So he treats (or mistreats) you for your symptoms when in fact you don’t have IBS. What your doctor may have missed is that you have a little known condition, celiac disease, and you don’t have to suffer anymore because relief of your problems is only a change of diet away.
The National Institute of Health, estimates that over three million Americans have undiagnosed celiac disease. Why so many? Because on average it takes 11 years to get a proper diagnosis. That’s 11 years millions of people are needlessly suffering. Could you be one of them?
The symptoms of celiac disease are very similar to a host of other intestinal disorders. They are: diarrhea, abdominal pain, gas, bloating, and weight loss. And many patients don’t experience those signs but instead report so-called atypical symptoms, including: a blistering, itchy skin rash, anemia, short stature, delayed puberty, infertility, and tooth enamel defects. Because there are a broad range of symptoms that may be readily associated with other conditions or ailments, celiac can be difficult to diagnose and often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
So what exactly is celiac disease?
It’s a genetic autoimmune disorder also known as gluten-intolerance. Gluten is found in wheat, rye, and barley and its derivatives. Therefore foods and ingredients to be avoided include such staples as most flours, bread, and pasta. If you have celiac disease your body recognizes gluten as a toxin. Toxins are essentially poisons to your body. Gluten reeks havoc on a celiac’s body by causing the villi, which line the intestinal wall, to become flattened and lose the ability to absorb nutrients from food.
It is important to properly diagnose and treat celiac disease for two reasons. First, with proper treatment the small intestine will heal and your symptoms will disappear over time. The other more important reason is that if a persona with the disorder continues to eat gluten, chances of gastrointestinal cancer can increase by 40 to 100 times that of the normal population. In addition, gastrointestinal carcinoma or lymphoma develops in up to 15 percent of patients with untreated celiac disease. Osteoporosis is another condition that can be caused by failing to treat this disease.
The only acceptable treatment for celiac disease is strict adherence to a 100% gluten-free diet for life. That measure can prevent almost all complications caused by the disease - without medication - as the small intestine will steadily heal and start absorbing needed nutrients and, therefore, eliminate painful symptoms.
But a gluten-free diet is not easy. It means avoiding all products that contain wheat, rye, and barley or any of their derivatives. That challenge can prove to be a daunting task as many hidden sources of gluten are found in the ingredients of several processed foods. However, the health rewards are tremendous.
Being diagnosed with celiac is a life-changing experience. Imagine having to give up bread, pasta, and beer among other things. Where can you go out to eat? Where can you vacation? Where can you find substitutes for the foods you crave? The doctors will not have the answers to these questions. The best source of information on living with celiac is hearing from others who have “been there, done that.”
If you have been suffering from intestinal problems and have not gotten relief, find out all you can about celiac disease. Educate your doctor about it. It can be diagnosed with a simple blood test. There are many support groups across the country and several books that can give you information and put you on the road to recovery.
Remember, relief may be just a change of diet away.
©2005, A Personal Touch Publishing, LLC.
Peter Berlin is the founder of A Personal Touch Publishing which publishes books written from people’s first-hand experiences in dealing with life’s challenges. Their book A Personal Touch On
Tags: Celiac disease, gluten intolerance, intestinal disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, misdiagnosedIrritable Bowel Syndrome - A Brief Overview
It is not a commonly understood condition, with the medical community unable to clarify the exact cause. IBS appears to occur due to the body’s inability to regulate the bowel functions correctly. This leads to a number of unpleasant symptoms such as abdominal pain, cramping, excessive wind and irregular bowel movements including constipation and/or diarrhoea. However, there are treatments available to allow sufferers to manage their symptoms.
If you start to notice irregular bowel movements or suffer prolonged abdominal discomfort you could be suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Keeping a diary to monitor food intake, exercise and stress levels is a good idea to track anything that may exacerbate your symptoms. When diagnosing IBS your medical practitioner will ask you for a general history of your bowel movements so keeping records will come in handy.
Certain foods are also recognized as triggers for IBS, such as fatty foods, caffeine and dairy products. Keeping a food diary will help you identify if eating these foods cause your symptoms to flare up and you can eliminate them in line with advice from your doctor.
Some foods can conversely be helpful in easing the symptoms of IBS, namely foods high in fiber. For example, bran, cereals, fruit and vegetables. Try introducing these foods into your diet, in small quantities first to allow your digestive system time to adjust. They will be particularly helpful if you suffer from constipation as they make stools soft and bulky and easier to pass.
Eating little and often has also been proven to relieve symptoms in some IBS sufferers. Try spreading your food intake over 5 meals a day. Eating too much in one sitting can bring on cramping and diarrhea for people at risk from IBS.
Although not the cause of irritable bowel syndrome, stress can be a contributing factor to its symptoms. Try to introduce some relaxation techniques into your day such as meditation, yoga, exercise or any activity that you enjoy.
There are medications available that play a role in relieving the symptoms. Fiber supplements or laxatives are sometimes prescribed for constipation, there are also drugs available to reduce diarrhea and control colon muscle spasms. Antidepressants may also be prescribed. Your doctor will talk through the most appropriate approach for you to take, determined by the symptoms that you suffer from.
Kirsten Whittaker has an interest in IBS. You can find further articles here and additional IBS information at Irritable Bowel Syndrome Guide
Tags: IBS, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndromeWhy Doctors Frequently Miss Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity
Doctors frequently fail to diagnose a very common condition known as Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. The average delay in diagnosis is 11 years in adults. There are several reasons for this delay. Celiac disease was once considered to be rare and affect only young children. This is what most doctors practicing today were taught in medical school and they are unaware of how the spectrum of Celiac disease has changed.
Screening blood donors only recently confirmed Celiac disease occurs in 1 in 133 people in the U.S. However, that information most physicians are unaware of this for several reasons.
Celiac disease is treated by a gluten-free diet not a drug. Drug companies subsidize much of the continuing medical education received by doctors and most of the medical research in the United States. Without drug company money and marketing, Celiac disease does not appear in medical journal ads or get mentioned by drug reps detailing doctors. It is rarely a topic of major conferences or research grant proposals. It is a disease that is largely “out of site, out of mind” for most doctors.
Doctors who actually remember Celiac disease envision in their mind a very young, pale, emaciated child with skinny limbs and a big “potbelly” like the picture they were shown years ago in medical school. The medical history linked with this image is a malnourished child that is not growing and has numerous, bulky, and foul smelling diarrheal stools. Surveys of primary care providers have confirmed that most are unaware that Celiac occurs in adults. If they do think it could occur in adults they don’t believe it can occur in someone who is overweight and constipated or has no intestinal symptoms.
They lack awareness that symptoms such as fatigue, bone and joint pain, headaches, and skin rashes are common in Celiac. Most are also it is associated with other autoimmune conditions like thyroid disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Malabsorption complications such as anemia and osteoporosis are often not recognized as common presentations of untreated Celiac disease. Over 250 symptoms involving nearly every part of the body have been reported in Celiac disease. Unless you provide your doctor distinct clues such as a family history of Celiac or mention the possibility that you think you might be gluten senstitive they don’t even consider the possibility of it to be the cause of your being ill.
Many doctors are unfamiliar with the specific blood tests or genetic tests for Celiac disease. Others are not thinking about the possibility of Celiac while listening to your symptoms so they never consider ordering the blood tests. Either way you never have chance of being diagnosed unless you ask them to test you. Even then your request may be ignored unless you insiste because of your family history, advice of family member or friend, or you present to them your own research. Their preconceived biases or misconceptions about Celiac may difficult to break. If you have little to no symptoms you may still may need to be tested because of risk factors but your doctor may be unfamiliar with the indications for screening of high risk individuals.
It should be noted that many doctors don’t like changing a diagnosis they have made and therefore may fail to consider an alternate diagnosis when new symptoms present. Instead they may attempt to fit the new symptoms into an existing condition or diagnosis. Because people with untreated Celiac disease frequently have neuropsychiatric symptoms your doctor may label you depressed, anxious, stressed, neurotic or just plain crazy. As a result they may stops listening or taking your concerns seriously and you may be tempted to stop mentioning your symptoms or concerns.
Lastly, doctors are under tremendous pressure to keep medical costs down. Diagnostic tests are one the biggest expenses in medical care and are ordered by doctors. Many insurance companies track individual doctors according to the number of tests they order. Therefore, your doctors may feel pressured to avoid ordering any perceived “unnecessary tests”. For some doctors who still believe Celiac disease is rare, blood tests or endoscopies required for diagnosis may not be ordered for these reasons. If ordered, however, blood tests may be misinterpreted or falsely negative. Endoscopy may be done but no biopsy performed or poorly interpreted. You and doctor may be under the false assurance that Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity have been excluded.
I recommend you help your doctor if you believe you may have Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity by 1) Writing down all your symptoms and your understanding of how they may be due to gluten sensitivity 2) Sharing your family history, including your ancestry and any genetic tests done 3) Being familiar with the diagnostic tests for Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity and their limitations 4) Politely ask your doctor to test you for Celiac disease pointing out why you believe it may be a cause of your symptoms 5) Being willing to undergo adequate and appropriate evaluation and 6) Being prepared to obtain a second opinion if necessary. Being educated and prepared will help your doctor help you.
Dr. Scot Lewey is a physician who is specialty trained and board certified in the field of gastroenterology (diseases of the digestive system) who practices his specialty in Colorado. He is the physician advisor to the local Celiac Sprue support group and is a published author and researcher. He is developing a web based educational program for people suffering from food intolerance and Celiac disease http://www.thefooddoc.com
Tags: Celiac disease, gluten, irritable bowel syndrome, lactose intolerance, wrong diagnosis
