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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Also known as celiac sprue, nontropical sprue and gluten-sensitive enteropathy, celiac disease occurs in people who have a susceptibility to gluten.
Normally, your small intestine is lined with tiny, hair-like projections called villi. Resembling the deep pile of a plush carpet on a microscopic scale, villi work to absorb vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from the food you eat. Celiac disease results in damage to the villi. Without villi, the inner surface of the small intestine becomes less like a plush carpet and more like a tile floor, and your body is unable to absorb nutrients necessary for health and growth. Instead, nutrients such as fat, protein, vitamins and minerals are eliminated with your stool.
The exact cause of celiac disease is unknown, but it's often inherited. If someone in your immediate family has it, chances are 5 to 15 percent that you may as well.
Many times, for reasons that aren't clear, the disease emerges after some form of trauma: an infection, a physical injury, the stress of pregnancy, severe stress or surgery.
- Kelly CP. Patient information: Celiac disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 17, 2008.
- Celiac disease. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/. Accessed Sept. 25, 2008.
- Schupann D, et al. Pathogenesis, epidemiology, and clinical manifestations of celiac disease in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 17, 2008.
- Hill ID. Management of celiac disease in children. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 17, 2008.
- Ciclitira PJ. Management of celiac disease in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 17, 2008.
- Nelson DA. Gluten-sensitive enteropathy (celiac disease): More common than you think. American Family Physician. 2002;66(12):2259-2266.
- Picco MF [expert opinion]. Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. Oct. 9, 2008.
