I've read celiac disease itself is an
auto-immune disease (the body attacking
itself). Also, numerous auto-immune,
cancer, rheumatologic, neurologic and
other serious diseases are complications
of celiac disease and may present
themselves before noticing you're having
gluten-related digestive problems. Celiac
disease imitates other conditions, and it
can take an average of 11 years to
diagnose -- by then, you may very well
have the lifelong complications of having
other diseases.
In my family, it certainly would have been
nice to know sooner of our gluten
sensitivity so we could have prevented the
complications, which can involve lifelong
diseases and conditions.
Now for the good news!
There seems to be tremendous hope (i.e.
nothing to fear) for those with celiac
disease who are detected early and adhere
to a gluten-free diet. Even for those not
detected early, there's a lot of favorable
reports that it takes 2 years for healing.
Gluten intolerance is so common now, too.
A decade ago, it was 1 in 4000, but now
it's 1 in 133. Perhaps we're better at
diagnosing it, but the increased numbers
probably relate to what goes into our food
processing these days.
So, it's common enough that you should get
checked out, particularly when an
immediate family member also has it. If
the diet change is all you fear about
getting tested, gluten-free products are
becoming much more prevalent. It's a
growing money-making industry, which means
more and more grocery store and restaurant
options for us in the near future.
