Can you grow out of coeliac disease? - LC
The simple answer is that you cannot technically grow out of coeliac disease, any more than you can grow out of other autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.
But you can have flare-ups or remissions sometimes spanning months or years.
It's not that the disease goes away, it just calms down for a while.
Also, the spectrum of symptoms in coeliac disease can vary from very mild bloating once in a while to severe weight loss, anemia, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea.
This variability can make coeliac disease hard to diagnose, and patients sometimes get mislabeled as having irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, lactose intolerance, or even psychiatric problems.
To add to the confusion, it's possible to have coeliac disease in addition to these other disorders. Things can get complicated. For every one person actually diagnosed with coeliac disease, there are three others who have the disease but haven't yet been diagnosed.
Luckily there are some tests out there, like tissue transglutaminase (TTG), that are useful: TTG is about 95 per cent sensitive in picking up cases of coeliac disease.
For those complex cases that require even higher certainty, there is the option of intestinal biopsy.
But for most patients, a doctor's visit, some blood tests, and avoidance of wheat, rye, and barley is enough.
People with confirmed coeliac disease who follow their diet typically see their symptoms disappear completely, as their intestines finally get a chance to heal without being attacked by their own antibodies.
If those people later return to a diet containing wheat gluten, sooner or later their symptoms will recur. The best option for a test-confirmed coeliac patient is to stay off wheat gluten forever.
Gary Payinda MD is an emergency medicine consultant in Whangarei.
Have a science, health topic or question you'd like addressed? Email: drpayinda@gmail.com
(This column provides general information and is not a substitute for the medical advice of your personal doctor.)
