Posts filed under 'Allergy'
How is coeliac disease diagnosed?
To diagnose the coeliac disease, gastroenterologist suggests doing a biopsy. Biopsy is a small operation in which the small tissue is removed or cut from your body for which the biopsy needs to be done. This operation is also called as endoscopy, for doing this operation it requires a local anesthesia.
With the help of flexible telescope this operation is performed. This flexible telescope is entered from the mouth through stomach to the intestine. This telescope helps the gastroenterologist to inspect the linings. To get the small tissue to diagnose coeliac disease a small cut is introduced. If the intestine linings are flat, it means that you are sensitive to gluten.
If the biopsy tests are found positive then your specialist will give treatment according to your biopsy results. Normally the specialists suggest gluten free diet as a regular diet program and the results will be monitored by the specialists for coming half a year. Even after taking necessary treatment for coeliac disease, if no improvement is observed then may be some more tests need to be carried out, because there is a possibility that it may not be coeliac disease and something else. While following the treatment it is very necessary for the patient to be disciplined. The patient is expected to follow the diet strictly to get good results of the coeliac disease treatment.
Some other tests to diagnose coeliac disease are
- CAP-RAST or ELISA blood test. This test also help to diagnose coeliac disease.
- Other blood tests will help to identify the deficiency of iron, deficiency of folic acid or minerals. This will help the expert to give you necessary supplement for over coming the deficiency.
What are symptoms of coeliac disease?
Following are some of the coeliac disease symptoms in infants
- Children’s body color becomes pale.
- The baby becomes bulky and because of the bulkiness, the baby becomes lazy.
- The baby’s body structure becomes weak.
Following are some of the coeliac disease symptoms in children:
- It is observed that due to coeliac disease children tend to loose their weight and because of weight loss their body is not appropriate to their age and they become weak.
- Abdominal distension, possibly with pain
- Vomiting and Diarrhoea are symptoms of coeliac disease because of vomiting and diarrhoea there is no enough food and vitamins going in the body, because of this children become weak. So they get tired very fast and become lethargic in nature.
- Because of coeliac disease children are sometime not able to concentrate.
- Breathlessness is one of the important symptoms observed in children having coeliac disease.
Symptoms observed or seen in children are also observed in adults having coeliac disease: over and above of the above mentioned coeliac disease symptoms following are some more symptoms observed in adults having coeliac disease.
- Abdominal problems
- Anaemia
- Bloating
- Bone deformation or pain to fracture because of lack of nutrients being absorbed by the body are some symptoms which can identify coeliac disease.
- Constipation
- Depression
- Iron deficiency
- Intestinal upsets
- Mouth ulcers
- Stomach upset
- Weight loss
- Skin problems like scaliness, bruising, dermatitis herpetiformis. Skin problem occur mainly because of the nutrients not being absorbed by the body.
People allergic to coeliac disease need to be careful with the following potential allergens that trigger coeliac disease
- Gluten
- Wheat
- Rye
- Barley
- Oats
You can find more details on coeliac disease here.
What is coeliac disease?
Coeliac disease is the disease related to intestinal problems. There are many different names for Coeliac disease like idiopathic steatorrhea, primary malabsorptive disease or non-tropical sprue.
Coeliac disease is caused due to the reaction of protein gliadin. As we all know that protein gliadin is found in gluten, substances like wheat, rye and barley. These proteins damage the small intestine. Because of such damaging and inflammation of the small intestine the intestine cannot absorb the necessary nutrients from the food.
It is a myth that Coeliac disease was a childhood problem, but in reality the symptoms of celiac disease can occur at any age. From studies it is known that most of the symptoms are diagnosed between the age of 30 to 45 years. Coeliac disease runs in the family, and there are high chances of developing the disease if any of your immediate relative is having coeliac disease.
From studies it is also found that in UK 1 of 1500 people suffer from coeliac disease. It is observed that coeliac disease is developed more in women then in men. People already suffering from diabetes have high potential of developing coeliac disease, and may also require to take insulin as one of the treatment for coeliac disease.
You may periodically notice that your body is intolerant to lactose. Lactose is the sugar found in dairy products. Coeliac disease damages the villi in intestine linings. Because of that the enzyme lactase production is reduced or stopped. This enzyme lactase helps the body to absorb lactose consumed from the other food intakes. Normally if you are suffering from coeliac disease then your doctor will suggest you to follow gluten free diet. This will help the gut to heal fast.
Swine flu
Swine flu is also known by other words like swine influenza, pig flu or hog flu etc. Swine flu is commonly found in part of United States, china, Japan, Southern America, parts of Europe, Maxico, Canada and some Asian countries. Swine flu is very rare to be found in humans. The only possibility that the person gets infected with swine flu might be because occupational reasons, people have to work with pigs and are continues exposure to pigs. Due to this exposure there is quite a possibility that the person catches swine influenza.
Symptoms of swine flu in humans
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the symptoms of swine flu are:
- Muscle pain
- Sore throat
- Weakness
- Severe headache
- Coughing
- General discomfort
- Fever
During the outbreak of swine flu in US 2009, people have reported some of the above symptoms and along with that they have reported diarrhea, vomiting, runny nose, gastric problems which are not the actual symptoms of swine flue. For those the doctors normally suggest to undergo different diagnosis, which would help the doctors to find out the actual root cause of the problem and give appropriate treatment.
Preventing swine fever spread in humans
Swine flu cannot be spread through eating pork products because the virus do not spread through food. Swine flu is contagious in humans, and they are very effective during the first 5 days of fever and illness. Adults catch swine fever may be because of the extensive exposure to swine may be because of the occupational reasons or get a contagious fever because their immune system is weak. Children can be affected with swine flu even more rapidly.
- Wash your hands frequently and especially before having food.
- Maintain distance from people who you suspect of having a swine flu.
- If you are going out, wear a mask to get more protection from swine flu.
- If you come across any of the above mentioned swine flu symptoms then please show it to you doctor immediately and take more precaution at home, so that the swine flu doesn’t get affected to your other family members.
What are the precautionary measures to be taken against swine flu / A(H1N1) ?
The swine flu or A(H1N1) has spreading all over the world very fast. People are getting affected to this virus because of lack of education about the virus. We see lot of people are in panic because of swine flu influenza outbreak. Panic can lead to a huge disaster, instead take some precautionary measures to avoid swine flu.
As the symptoms of swine flu very common to normal illness, it become very difficult to diagnose swine flu just based on symptoms.
It is very important to have a proper checkup done to identify or diagnose swine flu. Wash your hands regularly. If you know that your city is having high probability of swine flu A(H1N1) outbreak then avoid going to crowded places. If at all you have to go, wear a mask to cover your mouth and nose. Do NOT use other’s mask, it has high potential of spreading other diseases. For more information on precautionary measure against swine flu outbreak visit the article Precaution against H1N1 virus or Swine flu
Swine flu treatment
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC suggests making use of Tamiflu or Relenza as treatment of infection with swine flu. From observations it is seen that most of the patients having swine flu get recovered very soon. For some patients it is also observed that no drugs are required. But it depends from patient to patient and also depends on the intensity of the swine flu infection. Doctors normally recommend or give antiviral drugs. These antiviral drugs are much effective if given to the patient in earlier stage of the swine flu symptoms.
For more detailed and original information on swine flu please refer wikipedia.
Food allergy symptoms
- Here is some list of symptoms of food allergies. These food allergy symptoms may also be the symptom of other allergies, so no conclusion is to be derived from the list of symptoms. Please visit to your doctor, get a proper and accurate diagnose of allergy if any, and get treatment for the allergy if any.
- Gastro-intestinal symptoms like diarrhea, Crohn’s disease, constipation, bloating, vomiting, indigestion, nausea, stomach cramps, stomach ulcer, IBS etc are some of symptoms of food allergy. Though these food allergy symptoms are seen or observed due to intake of particular food.
- Migraine & Headache are other symptoms of food allergy, as some people feel uneasy after intake of particular food.
- Rheumatoid arthritis, muscular aches, joint pains are some of the join or muscular problems which are associated with food allergy.
- Mouth ulcers & swelling of lips, itching of palate, swelling of tongue are some of the “Oral allergy syndrome”. These symptoms are very common and easy to figure out the symptom of food allergy.
- Anxiety, depression, fatigue and hyperactivity are some of the psychological symptoms against food allergy. Hyperactivity is observed mainly in children as symptom of food allergy.
- Food allergy symptoms are also seen on skin. Angioedema, eczema food allergy, flushed face, water retention & Urticaria are some of the skin problems.
Find more information on Food allergy here