Celiac disease, also known as gluten enteropathy, is an autoimmune disease and is seen in a wide age group. It can give symptoms and signs in many systems, so it can appear in many different ways in practice. It is important to recognize and treat the disease because of its effects on health and the complications that the disease may cause in the long term. In the pathogenesis of the disease, antibodies formed by our body against a protein called gluten, which is found in nutrients such as wheat, rye and barley, take place. The immune response created by these antibodies and lymphocytes prevents this absorption process by damaging our small intestine cells, where a very important part of nutrient absorption takes place. This situation may occur with diarrhea and growth retardation in infants when complementary foods are started, and in older ages, symptoms and signs such as digestive system symptoms, anemia, weight loss, lack of essential nutrients, and unexplained liver enzyme elevation can be seen. Celiac disease can also be seen in association with disorders in other systems, for example neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression, headache, anxiety, joint problems, iron deficiency, kidney diseases. Celiac disease is also associated with many diseases, such as the skin disease dermatitis herpetiformis, type 1 diabetes, thyroid diseases. Tissue transglutaminase antibody test in serum can be used in the diagnosis of the disease. Findings such as villous atrophy and lymphocyte infiltration in the small intestines in duodenal biopsy are supportive for a definitive diagnosis. Its treatment is a gluten-free diet. If the gluten-containing diet is started again, the disease symptoms will also recur. These foods should be avoided. In addition, deficiencies of essential nutrients such as iron and vitamins caused by the disease should be treated.
In summary, celiac disease is a chronic disease that is not uncommon, can accompany diseases of many different systems, and whose treatment is a gluten-free diet, which requires continuous follow-up of the patients.
