Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which exposure to gluten—proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye—triggers immune-mediated damage to the small intestine. In genetically susceptible people, this injury can flatten intestinal villi, impair nutrient absorption, and contribute to symptoms such as diarrhea, bloating, abdominal pain, fatigue, iron deficiency, weight loss, mouth ulcers, or sometimes very subtle or non-digestive problems. Some people are diagnosed after evaluation for anemia, osteoporosis, infertility, neuropathy, or elevated liver enzymes rather than classic gastrointestinal symptoms.

Treatment options vary because the core therapy is straightforward in principle—a strict lifelong gluten-free diet—but real-world management is not. People differ in symptom severity, nutritional status, access to knowledgeable dietitians, risk of accidental gluten exposure, and whether symptoms persist despite gluten avoidance. Western care focuses on diagnosis confirmation, nutritional rehabilitation, follow-up testing, and monitoring for complications. Eastern and integrative approaches are sometimes explored to support digestion, stress regulation, symptom burden, and quality of life, but these do not replace gluten avoidance and generally have less direct evidence for preventing autoimmune intestinal injury.