Gluten Awareness NZ

There are a lot of symptoms/conditions that may be contributed to by an immune reaction to gluten. They arise from the effects gluten has on the gut, from malabsorption, the effect of gluten or the immune complexes that are formed on the nervous system, and/or the allergic or autoimmune response. Some of the symptoms are only recognised in the medical mainstream as being caused by coeliac disease but I have not separated them out here. I have grouped them by the type of reaction as far as possible. This list may not be complete or accurate as there is still much that we do not understand.

You don’t need to have all of these symptoms to have an immune response to gluten. You may not even be aware that you have some symptoms until you stop eating gluten and they go away. Remember to make sure you are tested for Coeliac Disease before eliminating gluten as the long-term consequences of gluten exposures are known to be serious in Coeliac Disease.

I originally wrote this page from “head knowledge” and finding the research or data to back up the head knowledge was difficult as gluten intolerance is not well researched. I have tried to only include symptoms from reputable websites and not blogs. This has meant that some of the references do not believe in Gluten Syndromes apart from Coeliac Disease.

Many of the symptoms of gluten allergy and coeliac disease are commonly associated with other medical conditions. It is therefore important to seek medical help so that a serious medical condition isn’t missed.

Other reported symptoms:

• Burning mouth
• Excessive sleepiness
• Thirst

Do you have a symptom that I have missed? Please contact me.

References:

http://www.celiac.org/downloads/PG-Celiac-Diet-Series-6.pdf

http://www.colourcards.com/coeliac/

https://www.doctorgluten.com

https://www.enterolab.com/StaticPages/Frame_Faq.htm#symptoms

http://www.foodreactions.org/gluten/

http://www.gastro-info.co.nz/coeliac.htm#presents

http://www.gidoctor.net/research_articles/cd-is-assoc-rls.html

http://www.gluten.net/downloads/print/glutenintoleranceflat.pdf

http://www.healthyfood.co.nz/articles/2006/november/coeliac-disease-symptoms-diagnosis-help

Arthritis – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11600749

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/guide/wheat-allergy

Written by Roslyn (Roz) Ballantyne (RN) for © Gluten Awareness NZ March 2008 – February 2009.
www.glutenwareness.org.nz
This page may be printed for the personal use, as long as the copyright and source (i.e. Gluten Awareness’s URL) is also printed. It may not be copied to other websites or publications without permission.

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