Celiac Disease Research Paper

Origin of the name/history of the disease The name celiac comes from "coeliac" which is derived from the Greek Koilia, which means belly. The "coeliac flux" is an old expression meaning the same as diarrhea. The disease celiac is not just diarrhea though it just means that the disease pertains to the abdomen. The celiac disease comes from early farmers and hunters. But because the wheat and grain of the crops and fields did not have high levels of gluten they were not exposed to the disease very often. Those who were infected would contract other diseases due to excessive defense. The disease did not hit hard until industrial quantities of gluten were introduced. The disease usually affects children at birth so you would think the disease would just die off. Wrong. The hinters and farmers developed an excessive defense to the disease. The defense would focus on the disease, which would make the person affected susceptible to other viruses. Also, breast-feeding preserves some children from the disease. The antibodies from the milk help fight the infections.

Loci of the gene/populations at risk/how common

Celiac has been mapped to the major histocompatibillity on chromosome 6.
This makes the disease hard to diagnose. There are only a handful of laboratories able to test for celiac and some doctors don't even know about the disease. Recent researchers have found that people with celiac disease have high levels of certain antibodies to gluten such as antigliadin, anti-endomysium, and antireticulum. Doctors test for celiac by testing the levels of these antibodies. If the test shows they have the disease doctors must perform a biopsy testing intestine tissue for damage to the villi. The only definite test for celiac is a gluten-free