While most of the population was thin and unwell on this starvation diet, a few children were actually healthier than before. An observant Dutch doctor noted that these were the children who, before the war, had suffered from constant diarrhoea, fatigue, poor growth and muscle wasting. They were suddenly stronger and, his enquiries revealed, their diarrhoea had vanished. But when the food situation improved at the end of the war, all their old problems returned.
Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash
bloating and wind
damage to the lining of the intestine. This is of a characteristic type: the complex folded structures (the villi) of the intestinal lining are destroyed. Additionally, huge numbers of immune cells are present
the loss of the villi results in failure to absorb nutrients from food (malabsorption) causing poor growth in babies, and weakness and weight-loss in adults
poor appetite, especially in babies. This can greatly reduce the diarrhoea
Coeliac disease usually appears in babies during weaning, a few weeks after cereals are introduced, but it can also begin for the first time in adults. The tendency to coeliac disease is genetically inherited, so it runs in families.
an intensely itchy rash, sometimes with tiny blisters; the rash is symmetrically distributed on the buttocks, shoulders, scalp, and the outer surfaces of the knees and elbows
diarrhoea, in some cases, but not all
the same characteristic damage to the lining of the intestine as seen in tests for coeliac disease, though generally less severe
In rare cases, an IgE-mediated food allergy to wheat can co-exist with coeliac disease, making reactions more severe.
Coeliac disease (or celiac disease) is an old name which simply means ‘belly disease’. It is derived from the Greek word for ‘belly’ – kailia. Once the cause of the symptoms became understood, a new name was devised – gluten-sensitivity enteropathy – but it has not really caught on. Other terms that you may come across are non-tropical sprue and coeliac sprue, based on the close resemblance of the symptoms to those of tropical sprue. This disease, found in those who live or have lived in the tropics, is probably caused by bacterial infection. There is no causal link with coeliac disease.
Used with permission by Linda Gamlin and Professor Jonathan Brostoff
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