Every May 5th, the Area 2 Hospital of the Tesãi Foundation commemorates the “International Celiac Day”. The date seeks to make the population aware of the existence of this condition, which, when diagnosed early, can avoid health complications.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease caused by a reaction to gluten, a protein found in certain foods such as wheat (and its different varieties), oats, barley and rye (TACC).
When a person suffering from this disease consumes gluten-containing foods, their intestine is damaged and becomes unable to absorb nutrients necessary to keep the body healthy.
In most cases, a person is not born with celiac disease and the disease can manifest at any time in life. Diagnosis is obtained by a blood test to measure antibodies to gluten and some proteins found in the intestine. If this test is positive, a biopsy of the small intestine will likely be done.