All about Celiac

Rana Siddiqui Zaman |NT

Bengaluru: The year 2023 is hailed as International Ye a r o f Millets. India has a great culture of millets.

Millets are naturally gluten free. In India, many different varieties of millets are available so it's a boon for the celiac community. A person suffering from celiac cannot wheat, barley and rye.

In fact, not even semolina (suji) and (white flour) maida. So only option left in grains for the celiac patients are millets, rice, pulses, fruits and cold drinks as well.

Their breads (roti) consists of millets instead of wheat. They can also eat rice, soyabean rotis. Not processed soya as it can increase the chance of cross contamination.

Worldwide, 1 per cent patients suffer from Celiac. India too has 1 per cent celiac patients, it means roughly out of 100 crore, I crore people could be Celiac patients.

But unfortunately, many don’t get themselves diagnosed or are not aware that they could be suffering from Celiac.

So, it is like seeing tip of the iceberg. Its actual percentage is still not known. North India has more celaic patients, while south is reported to have no or less such patients.

So, what is celiac and when to go for a diagnosis for the same, News Trail spoke with Noida-based Dr Sadaf Hameed, a behavioural researcher and councilor, about Celiac and more.

Hameed is post doctorate in the subject from Delhi University.

Dr. Sadaf Hameed, what is a celiac?

Our body has a system of internal immunity which fights with any external source of bacteria or ger ms, so when our immunity fights with outer germs, then body functions properly.

But when body’s own immunity starts attacking its own body cells, auto immune disease germinate. Celiac is also an autoimmune disease, like thyroid, diabetes, arthritis etc.

Celiac also comes in the same category but in case of celiac, the body part that is affected is small intestine, In Celiac, body cells attack small intestine.

What are the symptoms of a patient suffering from celiac?

In such cases, the patents condition varies from age to age. For example, among children it shows up in stunted height, indigestion, irregular periods in girls etc.

Is there any medicine for patient suffering from celiac?

There is no fixed medicine to treat celiac, except one – the patient has to stop eating wheat or wheatmade products altogether. One also has to stop cross contamination in food preparation for such patients.

For instance, if a particular space in the kitchen has been used to make rotis from wheat, or if pooris are fried in oil, that space has to be totally cleaned of wheat and that oil should not be used cook anything for a celiac patient.

To what extent intestine can be affected?

In a normal body, intestines have fingerlike projections which are called villi. These villi absorb nutrients from the food and releases in the body. But in case of celiac patients, these villi swell up.

In fact any cross contamination can cause serious issues with the patients, for instance if a patient eats bread, or a morsel of roti or any food outside home, may lead to diarrhea, lose motions, severe stomach pain etc.

Is there anything that contains wheat and people don’t know about it?

Common asafetida (heeng) a common home remedy for digestion or stomach-ache, has a portion of wheat in it.

But if someone is suffering from stomach ache due to celiac, it can precipitate the problem further.

Is celiac a deadly disease?

If it is chronic, it can have serious repercussions.

What should a celiac patent avoid eating?

Anything made of these wheat, barely and rye. Often oat and oat-mixed products have wheat in it, so patients should eat wheat-free oats or gluttonfree oats.

Gluten is that gummy element that produces ‘glu’ or sticky affect in wheat, bread or similar products. When you knead flour, it becomes a mound that doesn’t break because it has glutton in it but you kneed pearl millet (jwaar), sorghum millet bajra and maize (makka) flour, it breaks because it has no gluten in them.

A celiac patient has problem with this sticky produce or gluten. So they have to eat gluen-free food.

How does celiac happen?

Celiac is also a genetic disease. Scientists have discovered that if a child is introduced to wheat related food within six months of his birth, he/ she can suffer from celiac in future.

Therefore, a mother’s milk is declared as safest for a child for at least ill six months.

Also genetically-mutated Is difficult for celiac patients