What Is The Difference Between Celiac & Gluten Intolerance?

[skurtz]

What is the difference between celiac & gluten intolerance? And do many people also have a problem with

candida (yeast). Also does lactose intolerance really improve when being on gluten free diet?

[lonewolf]

What is the difference between celiac & gluten intolerance? And do many people also have a problem with

candida (yeast). Also does lactose intolerance really improve when being on gluten free diet?

I'm probably not going to be much help, since I'm still trying to figure out the difference. I tested negative for the 2 main Celiac genes, so my doctor said that I definitely DON'T have Celiac. But I have symptoms very similar to people here who have been officially diagnosed and have experienced great health improvements with a gluten-free diet. So my doctor said that I am gluten intolerant and stick with the gluten-free diet. Either way, you need to be gluten-free. There has been some discussion on this board in the past that people with true Celiac Disease have damage to the villi and people with gluten intolerance have all the same symptoms without the damage. I don't think anyone knows for sure. I have had problems with candida too and have seen lots of posts from people stating the same. As for the lactose intolerance, I can't tell you because I can't do dairy at all.

Good luck!

[zip2play]

There has been some discussion on this board in the past that people with true Celiac Disease have damage to the villi and people with gluten intolerance have all the same symptoms without the damage.

This is how it was described to me by Dana Korn. I don't have villi damage, but I am certain I am gluten intolerant!

Monica

[tiredofdoctors]

I have gluten intolerance, but I have "autoimmune cerebellar disease" or they also call it "gluten ataxia". Instead of having celiac symptoms, the antigliadin antibodies cross-react with anti-perkinje cell antibodies which I also produce -- working to destroy the perkinje cells. Unfortunately, they don't regenerate, and they're in the cerebellum of my brain, my retinas and my peripheral nerves.

[Guest nini]

There is no difference between Celiac and Gluten Intolerance. They are the same thing. Celiac just means that the villi are damaged and can't absorb nutrients. Gluten Intolerance is simply a precursor to Celiac. Some people with Gluten Intolerance will never develop full blown Celiac, but All Celiacs have Gluten Intolerance. I believe I remember the Celiac Expert that spoke at our support group meeting said that she believes that Gluten Intolerance could be early Celiac.

Do you want to wait until your villi are completely gone and your health in shatters before you go gluten free? no, Then technically, does it matter if it's Celiac or Gluten Intolerance? The treatment is the same.

[CMCM]

I swiped this from the Enterolab information section:

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CELIAC SPRUE & GLUTEN SENSITIVITY?

Gluten sensitivity implies that a person's immune system is intolerant of gluten in the diet and is forming antibodies or displaying some other evidence of an inflammatory reaction. When these reactions cause small intestinal damage visible on a biopsy, the syndrome has been called celiac sprue, celiac disease, or gluten sensitive enteropathy. (Nontropical sprue and idiopathic steatorrhea are other terms that have been used for this disorder in the past.) The clinical definition of celiac sprue also usually requires that there is clinical and/or pathologic improvement following a gluten-free diet.

In the past, celiac sprue could only be diagnosed after somebody developed certain symptoms like diarrhea, weight loss, or growth failure in children. A biopsy would be performed and if abnormal and typical of celiac sprue, and if a gluten free diet brought resolution of diarrhea, weight gain, or growth, only then would a diagnosis of celiac sprue be made. However, recent advances in diagnostic screening tests and application of these tests to people at heightened risk or to general populations have allowed detection of celiac sprue, sometimes even before damage to villi has occurred. This latter scenario is often called gluten sensitivity.

CAN I HAVE GLUTEN SENSITIVITY IF SMALL INTESTINAL BIOPSIES ARE NORMAL OR ONLY MINIMALLY ABNORMAL?

Although by definition a normal small bowel biopsy rules out celiac sprue, it does not rule out gluten sensitivity. Although asymptomatic people with gluten sensitivity may have normal or near-normal biopsies, so too may people with symptomatic gluten sensitivity. This has been reported in the medical literature (called "Gluten Sensitivity with minimal Enteropathy" or "Gluten-Sensitive Diarrhea without Celiac Disease". Furthermore, even though such people's intestines appear normal under the microscope, up to one half already have nutrient malabsorption, a major contributor to osteoporosis and malnutrition, attesting to the fact that microscopic analysis of intestinal biopsies is an insensitive way of assessing function and immunologic food sensitivity. However, because there is still a virtually universal reliance on small bowel biopsies to diagnose gluten intolerance, most asymptomatic or symptomatic gluten sensitive people (based on screening tests) will not be diagnosed correctly or be instructed to follow a gluten-free diet even though symptoms may resolve completely.

WHO SHOULD BE SCREENED FOR GLUTEN SENSITIVITY?

Because research has shown that as many as 30% of all Americans may be gluten sensitive, and that 1 in 225 have a severe form of this sensitivity causing the intestinal disease called celiac sprue, a case can be made that everyone in America should be screened for gluten sensitivity. However, there are people with various risk factors or diseases that are at greater risk of developing gluten sensitivity who should undoubtedly be tested.