Natural food markets, restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, and even the conventional supermarkets are carrying an expanding array of baked goods made with alternative, gluten-free grains. It seems that more and more of us are becoming increasingly aware of bothersome symptoms that improve when we remove gluten-containing foods from our diets. In fact, recent research backs this up by indicating that immune sensitivity to gluten is exceedingly common.
Gluten is a protein that is a component of sticky, stretchable grains: wheat, barley and rye. Gluten sensitivity implies that a person's immune system is intolerant of gluten and is forming antibodies or displaying some other evidence of an inflammatory reaction. When these reactions cause small intestinal damage visible under a microscope, the syndrome is called celiac disease. This intestinal damage can also be measured via two blood tests, anti-endomysial antibodies and tissue transglutaminase.
In the past, celiac disease was thought of as a relatively rare . However, based on recent research, we now know that it is entirely possible for people to be forming antibodies to gluten, but still have negative blood tests and intestinal biopsies. New tests can measure antibodies to gluten in the stool; these often show up before they are detected in the blood. People with stool antibodies to gluten may have IBS-type symptoms, such as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, gas, and heartburn. Even symptoms that seem completely unrelated to digestion, such as joint pain, anxiety, canker sores, anemia, osteoporosis, fatigue, and frequent illness can be caused by gluten intolerance.
The new stool test allows identification of clinically important gluten sensitivity before significant intestinal damage has developed. This is the ideal scenario for gluten sensitivity because by the time the small intestine becomes damaged, malnutrition has been present for years often causing irreversible osteoporosis. In addition, autoimmune syndromes occur more commonly the longer a gluten sensitive person eats gluten. As common as gluten sensitivity seems to be we all must begin thinking in a more preventive health way about gluten sensitivity and should take strides to identify it and treat it before it becomes full-fledged celiac disease.
