The key difference between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity is that celiac disease is a more severe autoimmune disorder, while gluten intolerance is a less severe sensitivity.
Gluten is a protein that is naturally found in some grains, including wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten acts like a binder, holding food together and adding a stretchy quality to food products that contain gluten. However, some people can be intolerant to gluten. Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are two conditions that are triggered after eating gluten protein. These conditions may have similar symptoms, such as bloating, stomach pain, and diarrhea. However, these are different conditions. Someone with celiac disease should completely eliminate gluten for their entire life, whereas someone with gluten intolerance can simply reduce the gluten intake and carbohydrate intake to see the symptom improvement.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Celiac Disease
3. What is Gluten Sensitivity
4. Similarities – Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity
5. Celiac Disease vs. Gluten Sensitivity in Tabular Form
6. FAQ: Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity
7. Summary – Celiac Disease vs. Gluten Sensitivity
What is Celiac Disease?
Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks its own tissues when people eat gluten. Therefore, celiac disease is caused by an adverse reaction to gluten, which is a dietary protein in cereals like wheat, barley, and rye, which can be due to a combination of genetics and environmental factors. Moreover, the symptoms of this condition may include diarrhea, stomachaches, bloating, indigestion, constipation, tiredness, unintentional weight loss, itchy rash, infertility, nerve damage, ataxia, and delayed puberty in children. The risk factors for this condition include being White, having a relative who has this condition, having a chromosomal disorder such as Turner syndrome, Williams syndrome, or Down syndrome, having other autoimmune disorders like type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or Addison’s disease, and being assigned female at birth.
Figure 01: Celiac Disease
Celiac disease can be diagnosed through family history, physical examination, biopsy, upper endoscopy, blood test, and genetic testing. Furthermore, treatment options for celiac disease may include a gluten-free diet, nutritional supplements, specific medicines like dapsone to manage dermatitis herpetiformis, corticosteroids, and continuous follow-up care.
What is Gluten Sensitivity?
Gluten sensitivity is also known as gluten intolerance. The symptoms of this condition may include tiredness, bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, constipation, a general feeling of being unwell, anxiety, headaches, brain fog confusion, numbness, joint or muscle pain, and skin rash. The exact cause of gluten sensitivity is still not known. However, researchers believe gluten sensitivity arises due to microbes and food proteins that are crossing the intestinal barrier into the bloodstream, causing widespread inflammation. The risk factors for gluten sensitivity include having mutations in genes such as HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8.
Figure 02: Gluten Sensitivity
Gluten sensitivity can be diagnosed through medical history and physical examination. Furthermore, treatment options for gluten sensitivity may include a gluten-free diet, adding probiotics to the diet, and taking certain enzymes that can digest gluten.
What are the Similarities Between Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity?
- Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are two conditions that are triggered after eating gluten protein.
- Both these conditions may have similar symptoms, such as bloating, stomach pain, and diarrhea.
- The presence of HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 gene mutations are risk factors for both these conditions.
- They can be diagnosed through family history and physical examination.
- They can be treated by consuming gluten gluten-free diet.
What is the Difference Between Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity?
Celiac disease is a more severe autoimmune disorder, while gluten intolerance is a less severe sensitivity. This is the key difference between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Furthermore, people with celiac disease also have high levels of certain antibodies in their blood. On the other hand, people with gluten sensitivity don’t have abnormal antibodies in their blood.
The infographic below presents the differences between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
FAQ: Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity
How do you test for celiac or gluten sensitivity?
Celiac sensitivity can be diagnosed by blood tests and biopsies. However, there is no specific test for gluten sensitivity. When the symptoms of celiac sensitivity are seen, a person should see a gastroenterologist to determine their risk for either celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.
What are the initial signs of being gluten intolerant?
Diarrhea, constipation, bloating, abdominal pain, fatigue, nausea, and headaches are the signs of gluten intolerance.
Can gluten intolerance turn into celiac disease?
Eating gluten triggers celiac disease in some people.
Summary – Celiac Disease vs. Gluten Sensitivity
Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are two conditions that are triggered after eating gluten protein. Both these conditions may have similar symptoms, such as bloating, stomach pain, and diarrhea. However, celiac disease is a more severe autoimmune disorder, while gluten intolerance is a less severe sensitivity. This summarizes the difference between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.
Reference:
1. “Celiac Disease.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
2. “What Is Celiac Disease?” National Celiac Association.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Gluten-sensitive enteropathy (Marsh 3c), intermed. mag” By CoRus13 – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Celiac disease – very high mag” By Nephron – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia