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By Janice Lane Palko
Thirty-eight years ago in October, it was revealed to me and my husband through an ultrasound that I was 16 weeks pregnant with twins. Twins run in my family. My dad is a fraternal twin, one of my great-grandmothers was a twin, and while doing genealogy research, I discovered that my paternal grandfather had a brother who was born with a twin sister who died at birth.
Nevertheless, it was still a surprise when the doctor turned the screen so that we could see what was going on in my body. There on the screen were two little babies waving their arms, jumping around in my uterus like it was a trampoline park. We were thrilled but flabbergasted. I thought I knew what was going on inside my body, but my babies were having a party inside me, and I’d had no clue.
Flash forward to this year. As I mentioned in a previous column, I was diagnosed this summer with celiac disease. And once again, I had no idea what my body was up to. My dad, who is 89, saw a dermatologist for an itchy rash. She biopsied it, and it showed that my dad had dermatitis herpetiformis, an indicator of celiac disease. If a first-degree relative has celiacs, there’s a chance that others in the family may have it as well.
I had no classic symptoms most associated with the disease—gastrointestinal troubles--but I mentioned my father’s diagnosis to my PCP, and she scheduled me for a simple blood test. On a scale of 100 with 4 and below being normal, my test came back at 88, meaning I had celiac disease.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in that your body has an adverse reaction to gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, and barley. When those with celiacs eat gluten, their bodies react abnormally by attacking the lining of their small intestine. The small intestine is covered with villi, fingerlike projections that absorb the nutrients from the food we eat. A healthy small intestine should look plush, kind of like a shag rug. Celiac disease destroys the villi often leaving sufferers with malabsorption and malnutrition. I was referred to a gastroenterologist, who advised that the most conclusive way to diagnose celiac disease is to have an endoscopy to examine my small intestine. But you must consume gluten for the test to be accurate.
We had a Mediterranean cruise to Italy, Greece, and Malta scheduled, and the doctor told me to go and eat whatever I wanted and to have a good time. I dubbed the cruise my “Farewell to Wheat Tour” and ate baklava in Athens, Canoli in Sicily, and crepes in Malta. Aboard ship I indulged in bread, pasta, cakes, pastries, and pies.
I had the endoscopy in July, and it came back that I, indeed, had celiac disease. I was counseled by a dietitian and had to have several blood tests to look for vitamin and nutritional deficiencies as well as a bone scan to make sure my bones weren’t crumbling from lack of calcium. Many celiac sufferers have trouble maintaining a healthy weight. Fortunately, all my readings and bones came back healthy. I have no deficiencies, and I somehow have managed to be overweight—take that celiac!
Like the time I discovered that I was having twins, this condition was something I never would have suspected. I have since learned that there are approximately 300 different symptoms associated with celiac disease, and according to the Celiac Disease Foundation, 1 in 100 people have celiacs and only 30% of them have been diagnosed, and like many other autoimmune disorders, more women get celiac disease than men.
Also, two out of my three kids have now had their blood tested, and my youngest son, was just diagnosed with celiac disease as well. The good news is that celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder whose cause is known—gluten. If you don’t eat it, you won’t have destruction of your small intestine or suffer with the symptoms. The hard part is that our diet is so wheat focused that it sometimes makes finding acceptable food difficult.
So, if you’re like me, you may not know what your body is up to, but if you have any of the celiac disease symptoms, you may want to get a blood test. What’s the worst thing that could happen? You’ll be commanded to eat lots of yummy glutenous foods and may not have it at all.
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