Celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy: three different problems but with similar symptoms. How to get a correct diagnosis?
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousOften the symptoms related to the intake of wheat or cereals that contain gluten can generate difficulties in the diagnosis if not directly attributable to celiac disease. In fact, it could be a wheat allergy or gluten sensitivity, in some cases even irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). How can we distinguish these problems and have a correct diagnosis?
Those with symptoms such as diarrhea, bloating, digestive problems, or other recurrent gastrointestinal upset, may suspect that the problem is in eating foods that contain gluten. Sometimes, however, the symptoms can also be very different and confuse a bit. For example, headaches, joint pains, fatigue or anemia, are hardly linked in the first place to a possible presence of celiac disease or to gluten sensitivity.
In any case, it is good to go to the bottom. As already announced, there may be more problems that can arise in people who do not tolerate gluten and: / or some components of wheat:
- celiac disease: a permanent intolerance to gluten that triggers an immune reaction. The person who suffers from it, if he eats foods that contain this protein, has problems with the absorption of nutrients.
- wheat allergy: it is a food allergy that causes specific antibodies to develop, causing symptoms that mainly affect the skin and respiratory tract, but also gastrointestinal problems.
- gluten sensitivity: reaction to gluten that is not allergic or related to celiac disease, even if the symptoms can be very similar to those caused by permanent gluten intolerance.
- IBS or irritable bowel syndrome: it is one of the most frequent gastrointestinal diseases. Diagnosis is reached when the symptoms cannot be traced back to any organic or pathological cause, and severely limit the patient's quality of life.
But how to understand what actually triggered the symptoms we feel? We could begin our investigation with a simple online test proposed by Schär, a company that produces "gluten free" foods for all people who need it. This can give you a first useful indication, obviously to be explored with the help of a specialist.
The diagnostic investigations to assess whether there is celiac disease are very clear: after having undergone specific blood tests, an intestinal biopsy must be performed, the result of which must then be confirmed by adopting a gluten-free diet and verifying whether there is actually a improvement of symptoms until complete disappearance.
In the case of wheat allergy, however, there will be allergy tests that will indicate the presence of this allergy or not. The diagnosis of non-celiac gluten sensitivity, currently in the absence of specific bio markers, occurs by excluding celiac disease and wheat allergy. In fact, there is no specific test or analysis and only after removing gluten from one's diet can any improvements in symptoms be evaluated.
The testimonies of those who have discovered that they are celiac or sensitive to gluten
An extra help to extricate ourselves in the complicated world of problems that can trigger the consumption of gluten, can be provided by those who have already overcome them, often after complicated procedures. People who, after being able to have a certain diagnosis, have seen their lives radically change.
This is the case, for example, of Noemi who, when interviewed by Schär, recounted her experience in detail. This young student from Piacenza, who discovered she was celiac since she was a child, gives us valuable advice:
“In my opinion, correct information is the first step for everything. It was like that for my parents too. I therefore recommend that you get information, study, especially by contacting an accredited diagnosis center and ask for information on how to behave, what to eat and what not. Documenting, reading, discussing with other celiacs is always useful and once you have acquired a certain awareness it will also be easier to behave outside the home ".
Noemi's daily life, always accustomed to a "gluten free" life, flows in a calm way precisely because she knows how to behave in every context: when traveling she always brings gluten-free snacks with her while at home she delights in preparing sweets and other dishes .
Then there is the story of Carlotta, who instead discovered she was sensitive to gluten only as an adult. You might think her symptoms were milder than those of celiac disease, but her testimony proves otherwise. As she told Schär:
“I didn't digest anything, I always got up from the table with a sense of fullness; I constantly had stomach pain, often felt nauseous, suffered from gastroesophageal reflux and gastritis; in the last year before the diagnosis, my symptoms got worse: I also had joint pains in my wrists and hands, severe headaches, bouts of vomiting with a high fever. I had lost a lot of pounds and often felt weak. (…) My quality of life was really compromised. ".
A situation that inevitably had to be clarified and which, after a long journey, finally brought it to a turning point.
“After 10 years, in agreement with my family, we turned to a doctor, whom I would define my savior, who has again subjected me to gastroscopy; I was also prescribed genetic tests being familiar with celiac disease and a predisposition to celiac disease was detected, but not the disease. Pending further tests, the doctor told me to remove gluten and lactose from the diet. From that day on, my life changed completely and after a really difficult period of severe malaise, I started feeling good again and facing life with positivity "
If you recognize yourself in these stories, you feel symptoms compatible with those above or you simply need to clarify, do not hesitate: immediately contact a specialist who will prescribe the usual tests.
