Question

Read the following case study and answer the following questions in two lines each.

Rachel has been getting episodes of diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating lately. She can't figure out why. She has also been getting very tired and irritable. She was playing with her two-year old nephew the other day and when he bumped her nose it started bleeding. She has lost a bit of weight lately, but she thinks it might just be from the diarrhea she's been having. Once in awhile she'll get these awful migraines which is abnormal for her. She never even used to get mild headaches. One day her friends call her to see if she wants to go to a local brewery with them on Saturday. She excitedly says yes and can't wait to go check it out. Rachel and her friends have a blast at the new brewery. They try a bunch of different samples of the brewery's new draft releases. Later that evening when Taylor is at home she starts to get really bad abdominal pain and vomiting. She decides that she has had enough of these symptoms, and she makes an appointment with the doctor the next day. The doctor takes a few tests, one of them being a blood test, and finds that she has celiac disease.

• Why did she have severe symptoms after her trip to the brewery?
• How is celiac disease treated?
• What are the long-term effects if untreated?
• How common is this disease?
• What is the cause?

Answer 1

1. She had severe symptoms after the trip to the brewery because she tasted different varieties of beer at the brewery. Beer contains malted barley, which has gluten in it. As she is diagnosed with celiac disease, gluten resulted in severe symptoms of abdominal pain and vomiting.

2. Treatment of celiac disease consists of consuming gluten free diet. This includes stopping the consumption of all foods containing gluten. This will result in healing the damage in the small intestine.

3. Untreated celiac disease can lead to development of other autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes, dermatitis herpetiformis, anemia, osteoporosis, infertility, miscarriages.

4. Celiac disease occurs in 1 in 100 people. About 1% indviduals have celiac disease.

5. Celiac disease is caused by an immune reaction to gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. This immune reaction results in damage to the small intestine.