Celiac disease symptoms in children include failure to thrive, stomach pain, bloating, irritability, and more. A gluten-free diet is the only treatment, and a family history of the disease increases the risk. Diagnosis is through blood tests and a biopsy of the small intestine.
Symptoms of celiac disease in children usually include failure to thrive, stomach pain and bloating. Irritability, diarrhea, inability to concentrate, vomiting, constipation, and decreased appetite may also occur. These symptoms typically vary from child to child, and it’s not uncommon for problems to come and go. Some children may experience a few weeks without symptoms before coming back again. Many children begin showing signs of celiac disease shortly after consuming gluten-containing foods for the first time. There are even some who are not born with celiac disease but develop it later in life.
There is no cure for celiac disease in children or adults. The only way to successfully treat it is to avoid gluten-containing foods. Most foods with grains also contain gluten, which can make it difficult to follow a gluten-free diet all the time. Children can naturally have a hard time understanding why some people can eat certain types of foods and can’t. Parents of children with celiac disease might benefit from putting the entire family on a gluten-free diet to make the affected child easier to cope with.
Celiac disease in children is more likely to occur if there is another family member who has the disease. A family history of celiac disease could increase a person’s chance of developing it on their own by up to 10%. There are probably many parents who are unaware that their child has celiac disease because the symptoms tend to be inconsistent and vary greatly from person to person. It is estimated that more than one in 100 people are affected. Awareness of celiac disease has grown considerably over the years and as a result many people are starting to find out they have it.
The first step in diagnosing celiac disease in children and adults is usually through a blood test. This test shows the levels of tissue transglutaminase, or tTG, in the person experiencing symptoms of celiac disease. If tTG levels are elevated, celiac disease is usually suspected. The only way to be 100% sure that your symptoms are a result of celiac disease after blood test results indicate they might be is through a biopsy of the small intestine. After the procedure, a doctor normally examines the sample of intestine under a microscope to confirm that the patient has the disease.
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