Research Paper On Celiac Disease

One in every 131 Americans have Celiac disease; that is one percent of the population. Out of that one percent, 83% of them are underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. With over 300 diagnosed symptoms, this disease is a challenge to identify and is normally misdiagnosed. However, being the next title holder, I would have the opportunity to speak to a wide variety of people about Celiac disease and the symptoms. In doing so, I hope to decrease the number of Americans that go undiagnosed and educate people on what this disease actually is. I also want to focus on the fact that this disease, or a disease, does not define you.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi in the small intestine and can interfere with the nutrition absorption of food. This essentially means every time a person with this disease consumes the protein gluten, the body attacks itself. Gluten is primarily found in wheat, barley, and rye. Ingestion of gluten causes the immune system to produce a chemical response as it would to a poison. The villi of the small intestine are damaged. After they are damaged, they are unable to absorb nutrients, leading to malnourishment. If left untreated Celiac disease can lead to further complications such as other autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and cancer. …show more content…
When I was first diagnosed 7 years ago, this was a very hard lifestyle switch. Between being confound to so little products back then and being the only one in my community with this disease, I felt very different from everyone. As I started meeting new people in college I had not realized that that was how I defined myself; the girl with Celiac disease. After that eye opening experience, I want everyone to understand that just because I live with a chronic disease does not mean that that is all I am. A disease does not determine a person’s personality or