How Do I Know If I Am Celiac? Know The Tests To Detect It
Do you wonder how to know if I am celiac or not? It is a common doubt among people who suffer from recurrent gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea, abdominal bloating and flatulence.
To arrive at the confirmation of the pathology, there are some studies that can be carried out and that guide the diagnosis, while others are specific, although invasive. Today we are going to explain what the disease is about and how to detect it.
What is celiac disease?
Celiac disease or celiac disease is a disorder of the digestive system. The basic problem is the inflammatory reaction that intestinal cells develop against the substance known as “gluten”.
Gluten is a protein that is largely present in wheat (T), oats (A), barley (C), and rye (C), among others. That is why the diet that is part of the treatment is based on TAAC-free foods.
What happens in this immune reaction is that the body becomes unable to digest gluten, as it cannot process it as a protein to incorporate it into the bloodstream.
Then, every time the person eats a food with this component, a series of effects of inflammation are unleashed, caused by something that is recognized as an external agent.
Another name for celiac disease is “gluten hypersensitivity,” which further highlights the intimate mechanism of the disease. When the immune reaction is repeated over the years, the entire intestinal mucosa undergoes chronic destruction that leads to its deformity, which prevents the absorption of other nutrients.
Symptoms to know if I am celiac
The suspicion of celiac disease begins with the symptoms. Patients who want to know if they are celiac have the doubt because they have gone through certain indicative signs for months or years.
Among the most frequent symptoms of gluten hypersensitivity we can mention the following:
- Abdominal pain: after eating TACC foods, the celiac patient has cramps and intestinal colic due to the inflammatory reaction that begins to expel the supposed external agent that would be gluten.
- Diarrhea: the destruction of the intestinal mucosa leads to a loss of its absorption capacity. So, in the long run, not only gluten is rejected, but also other nutrients, such as fats. It is common for these patients to suffer from steatorrhea, which is the stools full of lipids.
- Weight loss: malabsorption leads to an expected weight loss due to the decrease in nutrients that enter the body. In the same way, these people tend to reduce their intakes because of the pain they suffer every time they eat, until they are finally diagnosed.
- Flatulence: gassy abdominal bloating responds to accelerated peristalsis in celiac disease. The immune and inflammatory reaction within the intestine stimulates the movement of the organ.
How do I know if I am celiac?
Once you get to the question about whether I am celiac, the next thing is to make a medical consultation to begin the diagnostic process. The specialty of choice to guide this should be gastroenterology.
The first thing to do is request a general and specific blood test. Among the parameters that are measured are the basic and usual ones, such as the blood count, and those of the suspected pathology. These are some of the parts of the analytics that can evaluate you:
- Red blood cells: celiac patients tend to have anemia, since they absorb iron very poorly due to the deformation of their intestinal mucous membranes. It is not a diagnostic parameter, but it does guide and help detect a complication that must be resolved with artificial ferrous supplements.
- Hepatogram: liver enzymes can be altered in celiac disease because bile does a different job than normal due to malabsorption. Again, it is not a diagnostic test in itself.
- Proteinogram: proteins can also be victims of a lack of correct absorption, so their levels fall in the blood of patients.
- Antiendomysial antibody: this is a part of the biochemistry that is specifically requested to know if a person is celiac or not. The andiendomysium antibody is a substance that the immune system makes in response to gluten and its result is positive when there is hypersensitivity to the protein.
- Anti-transglutaminase antibodies: like those of antiendomysium, they are specific for celiac disease. In a natural way, the intestine has an enzyme called tissue transglutaminase, which is attacked by the immune system when there is gluten pathology. Thus, its detection is almost diagnostic.
The biopsy test
Final confirmation of celiac disease is made with an intestinal biopsy. Once the doctor detects positive antibodies in the blood test, he will order a digestive endoscopy to take a direct sample of the mucosa that is suspected of being affected.
Intestinal biopsy is the result of an invasive method and, therefore, is reserved for confirmation at the end of the process, once the external instances have been exhausted. To confirm celiac disease, this pathology should report the destruction and flattening of the intestinal mucosa.
What do I do once I know that I am celiac?
With the diagnosis of celiac disease, a TACC-free diet must be developed. This is the task of gastroenterologists and nutritionists, who are trained to sustain, through an eating plan, the contributions necessary for a healthy life, within the framework of immune reactions.
If you have persistent abdominal symptoms after ingesting wheat products, for example, don’t delay your visit. The first blood analysis tests are quick and will guide the suspicion to continue or not to a biopsy.
