When your child has trouble digesting food without painful constipation or diarrhea, you need to consider whether it may be gluten intolerance. Celiac disease is more common than you may think and with it comes broader consequences than many understand.
Your doctor can help you research a potential intolerance to gluten. But you should know that diagnosis is not a simple task. Sometimes a simple blood panel will do, but other times a biopsy of the intestinal wall will be needed. And even if all tests are negative, it doesn’t assure your son or daughter isn’t experiencing a significant degree of gluten sensitivity.
After a blood test, a primary care physician might determine it essential to do a biopsy of the intestinal wall. If the biopsy has a negative result, your physician may still advise you to try a gluten-free diet.
After you have found that a child must live without gluten, it’s essential to start building a gluten-free pantry and developing a whole new world of ingredients. Manufacturers and grocers – particularly natural grocery chains like Whole Foods – make this much easier than it it was some years ago.
As recently as the nineties the majority of people underrated the number of people affected by gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Not only do far more people struggle with this autoimmune condition, but we also understand the long-term consequences of going without treatment is likely be more severe than we formerly thought.
Today your doctor will be better equipped to discuss and diagnose celiac disease and your local stores should be more equipped with foods specifically tagged as gluten-free.
You can also get a tremendous amount of help through forums online and blogs. If your child suffered from celiac disease 10 years ago, you would’ve felt far more lost and alone.
It is difficult to see your children struggle with discomfort. And I understand how the lack of understanding of that discomfort makes it that much more difficult to tolerate. So if the problems your child is having seem at all associated with trouble digesting his or her food, I strongly recommend you to discuss the issue with your physician and explore the possibility of gluten intolerance.
You will still need to learn more about the numerous ways that gluten can be found in unlikely items, and not simply food products. But remain hopeful, many people have successfully adapted to a gluten-free lifestyle and now lead happy, healthy lives.