Reading for Celiac Disease Awareness

May is Celiac Disease Awareness month. You may have heard of Celiac Disease and not know what it means. It has also been called Celiac Sprue and a couple of other names. While those with Celiac Disease react to the glutens (proteins) in grains, it is not an allergy like a peanut allergy.

One of the things that I have had people ask me is which is worse, allergies or intolerance (Celiac Disease is an intolerance to glutens.) But it is very individual. Either one can be mild or severe. And with an intolerance like Celiac Disease, you may not realize that you have it, may not have any recognizable symptoms, but it can still cause damage that can result in serious illness such as colon cancer or the inability to absorb nutrients.

Some CD sufferers have very severe symptoms from just a crumb of gluten or cross-contamination. Others don’t have any obvious symptoms but still have silent systemic damage. So don’t assume that because your acquaintance is not actually gluten intolerant because they didn’t know that you snuck some gluten into their food (yes, people do this…) People may also be suffering for it hours later and not tell you because they are nice and trying to spare your feelings. Or they don’t know how they got contaminated. Just don’t be that guy.

Definition

Celiac disease (CD) is a common…