subject: What are the symptoms of coeliac disease? [print this page] What are the symptoms of coeliac disease?
Symptoms of coeliac disease vary from person to person. Symptoms may occur in the digestive system or in other parts of the body. Digestive symptoms are more common in infants and young children and may include:
abdominal bloating and pain
chronic diarrhea
vomiting
constipation
pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool
weight loss
Irritability is another common symptom in children. Malabsorption of nutrients during the years when nutrition is critical to a child's normal growth and development can result in other problems such as failure to thrive in infants, delayed growth and short stature, delayed puberty, and dental enamel defects of the permanent teeth.
Adults are less likely to have digestive symptoms and may instead have one or more of the following:
unexplained iron-deficiency anemia
fatigue
bone or joint pain
arthritis
bone loss or osteoporosis
depression or anxiety
tingling numbness in the hands and feet
seizures
missed menstrual periods
infertility or recurrent miscarriage
canker sores inside the mouth
an itchy skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis
People with coeliac disease may have no symptoms but can still develop complications of the disease over time. Long-term complications include malnutritionwhich can lead to anemia, osteoporosis, and miscarriage, among other problemsliver diseases, and cancers of the intestine.
Its also very important to mention that if untreated coeliac disease could develop mental disorders in children and adolescents. Neurological symptoms such as ataxia are common, and maybe the sole manifestation of disease in some individuals withgenetic susceptibility; even with serological evidence of glutensensitivity, there may be no gastrointestinal symptoms or manifestmucosal lesion.
