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Celiac disease is a chronic (long-term) digestive and immune disorder that damages your small intestine. The damage may prevent your body from absorbing vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients from the food you eat. This can lead to malnutrition and other serious health problems

Celiac disease is triggered by eating foods that contain gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and other grains. It may also be in other products like vitamins and supplements, hair and skin products, toothpastes, and lip balm.

Celiac disease is different from gluten sensitivity. Both involve problems with gluten and can cause some of the same symptoms, such as abdominal (belly) pain and fatigue. But gluten sensitivity does not damage the small intestine like celiac disease does.

Wheat allergy, a type of food allergy, is also different. With both celiac disease and wheat allergy, your immune system is reacting to wheat. But with wheat allergy, you can have some different symptoms, such as itchy eyes or trouble breathing. And a wheat allergy will not cause long-term damage to the small intestine.

The exact cause of celiac disease is not known. Research suggests that celiac disease only happens in people who have certain genes and eat food that contains gluten. Researchers are studying other factors that may play a role in causing the disease.

Celiac disease is more common if you:

• Have a family member who has the disease
• Have Down syndrome, Turner syndrome, or Williams syndrome
• Are White
• Are female

The symptoms of celiac disease can be different from person to person. Sometimes the symptoms may come and go. Some people may not notice any symptoms.

Some of the possible symptoms affect your digestive system. Digestive symptoms are more common in children than in adults. The digestive symptoms include:

• Bloating (feeling fullness or swelling in your belly)
• Chronic (long-term) diarrhea or greasy, bulky, unusually bad-smelling stool (poop)
• Constipation
• Gas
• Lactose intolerance because of damage to the small intestine
• Nausea and vomiting
• Pain in the abdomen (belly)
• Weight loss in adults, or not enough weight gain in children

Some people with celiac disease have symptoms that affect other parts of the body, such as:

• Fatigue
• Depression and anxiety
• Irritability (in children)
• Dermatitis herpetiformis, an itchy rash with blisters (mainly in adults)
• Bone or joint pain
• Symptoms involving the mouth, such as canker sores or dry mouth

Over time, celiac disease can cause other health problems, especially if it is not treated. These problems can include:

• Malnutrition
• Anemia, especially iron-deficiency anemia
• Bone loss
• Nervous system problems such as headaches, balance problems, or peripheral neuropathy
• Reproductive problems, such as missed menstrual periods and miscarriages in women and infertility in men and women

If you have symptoms of celiac disease, your health care provider will look for signs that you might have celiac disease. To do this, your provider will get your medical and family history and do a physical exam.

If your provider thinks that you could have celiac disease, you will have some tests. Providers most often use blood tests and biopsies of the small intestine to diagnose celiac disease. The biopsy would be done during an upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. For this procedure, your provider uses an endoscope (a flexible tube with a camera) to see the lining of your esophagus, stomach, and small intestine. It also allows your provider to take a sample of tissue for a biopsy.

The treatment for celiac disease is following a gluten-free diet for the rest of your life. Sticking with a gluten-free diet will treat or prevent many of the symptoms and other health problems caused by celiac disease. In most cases, it can also heal damage in the small intestine and prevent more damage.

Your provider may refer you to a registered dietician (a nutrition expert) who can help you learn how to eat a healthy diet without gluten. You will also need to avoid all hidden sources of gluten, such as certain supplements, cosmetics, toothpaste, etc. Reading product labels can sometimes help you avoid gluten. If a label doesn't tell you what is in a product, check with the company that makes the product for an ingredients list. Don't just assume that a product is gluten-free if it doesn't mention it.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Crohn's disease is a chronic (long-lasting) disease that causes inflammation in your digestive tract. It can affect any part of your digestive tract, which runs from your mouth to your anus. But it usually affects your small intestine and the beginning of your large intestine.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Ulcerative colitis and microscopic colitis are other common types of IBD.

The cause of Crohn's disease is unknown. Researchers think that an autoimmune reaction may be one cause. An autoimmune reaction happens when your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body. Genetics may also play a role, since Crohn's disease can run in families.

Stress and eating certain foods don't cause the disease, but they can make your symptoms worse.

There are certain factors that may raise your risk of Crohn's disease:

• Family history of the disease. Having a parent, child, or sibling with the disease puts you at higher risk.
• Smoking. This may double your risk of developing Crohn's disease.
• Certain medicines, such as antibiotics, birth-control pills, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin or ibuprofen. These may slightly increase your chance of developing Crohn's.
• A high-fat diet. This may also slightly increase your risk of Crohn's.

The symptoms of Crohn's disease can vary, depending where and how severe your inflammation is. The most common symptoms include:

• Diarrhea
• Cramping and pain in your abdomen
• Weight loss

Some other possible symptoms are:

• Anemia, a condition in which you have fewer red blood cells than normal
• Eye redness or pain
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Joint pain or soreness
• Nausea or loss of appetite
• Skin changes that involve red, tender bumps under the skin

Stress and eating certain foods such as carbonated (fizzy) drinks and high-fiber foods may make some people's symptoms worse.

Crohn's disease can cause other problems, including:

• Intestinal obstruction, a blockage in the intestine
• Fistulas, abnormal connections between two parts inside of the body
• Abscesses, pus-filled pockets of infection
• Anal fissures, small tears in your anus that may cause itching, pain, or bleeding
• Ulcers, open sores in your mouth, intestines, anus, or perineum
• Malnutrition, when your body does not get the right amount of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients it needs
• Inflammation in other areas of your body, such as your joints, eyes, and skin

Your health care provider may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

• A medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms
• A family history
• A physical exam, including:
  • Checking for bloating in your abdomen.
  • Listening to sounds within your abdomen using a stethoscope.
  • Tapping on your abdomen to check for tenderness and pain and to see if your liver or spleen is abnormal or enlarged.
• Various tests, including:
  • Blood and stool tests.
  • A colonoscopy.
  • An upper GI endoscopy, a procedure in which your provider uses a scope to look inside your mouth, esophagus, stomach, and small intestine.
  • Diagnostic imaging tests, such as a CT scan or an upper GI series. An upper GI series uses a special liquid called barium and x-rays. Drinking the barium will make your upper GI tract more visible on an x-ray.

There is no cure for Crohn's disease, but treatments can decrease inflammation in your intestines, relieve symptoms, and prevent complications. Treatments include medicines, bowel rest, and surgery. No single treatment works for everyone. You and your provider can work together to figure out which treatment is best for you:

• Medicines for Crohn's include various medicines that decrease the inflammation. Many of these medicines do this by reducing the activity of your immune system. Certain medicines can also help with symptoms or complications, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-diarrheal medicines. If your Crohn's causes an infection, you may need antibiotics.
• Bowel rest involves drinking only certain liquids or not eating or drinking anything. This allows your intestines to rest. You may need to do this if your Crohn's disease symptoms are severe. You get your nutrients through drinking a liquid, a feeding tube, or an intravenous (IV) tube. You may need to do bowel rest in the hospital, or you may be able to do it at home. It will last for a few days or up to several weeks.
• Surgery can treat complications and reduce symptoms when other treatments are not helping enough. The surgery will involve removing a damaged part of your digestive tract to treat:
  • Fistulas
  • Bleeding that is life threatening
  • Intestinal obstructions
  • Side effects from medicines when they threaten your health
  • Symptoms when medicines do not improve your condition

Changing your diet can help reduce symptoms. Your provider may recommend that you make changes to your diet, such as:

• Avoiding carbonated drinks
• Avoiding popcorn, vegetable skins, nuts, and other high-fiber foods
• Drinking more liquids
• Eating smaller meals more often
• Keeping a food diary to help identify foods that cause problems

In some cases, your provider may ask you to go on a special diet, such as a diet that is:

• High calorie
• Lactose free
• Low fat
• Low fiber
• Low salt

If you are not absorbing enough nutrients, you may need to take nutritional supplements and vitamins.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Your small intestine does most of the digesting of the foods you eat. If you have a malabsorption syndrome, your small intestine cannot absorb nutrients from foods.

Causes of malabsorption syndromes include:

• Celiac disease
• Lactose intolerance
• Short bowel syndrome. This happens after surgery to remove half or more of the small intestine. You might need the surgery if you have a problem with the small intestine from a disease, injury, or birth defect.
• Whipple disease, a rare bacterial infection
• Genetic diseases
• Certain medicines

Symptoms of different malabsorption syndromes can vary. They often include chronic diarrhea, abnormal stools, weight loss, and gas. Your doctor may use lab, imaging, or other tests to make a diagnosis.

Treatment of malabsorption syndromes depends on the cause.

Parasites are living things that use other living things - like your body - for food and a place to live. You can get them from contaminated food or water, a bug bite, or sexual contact. Some parasitic diseases are easily treated and some are not.

Parasites range in size from tiny, one-celled organisms called protozoa to worms that can be seen with the naked eye. Some parasitic diseases occur in the United States. Contaminated water supplies can lead to Giardia infections. Cats can transmit toxoplasmosis, which is dangerous for pregnant women. Others, like malaria, are common in other parts of the world.

If you are traveling, it's important to drink only water you know is safe. Prevention is especially important. There are no vaccines for parasitic diseases. Some medicines are available to treat parasitic infections.

Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the lining of the stomach and intestines. The main symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea. It is usually not serious in healthy people, but it can sometimes lead to dehydration or cause severe symptoms.

There can be many different causes of gastroenteritis:

• Viruses
• Bacteria
• Parasites
• Chemicals
• Reactions to certain medicines and food

Viral gastroenteritis is the most common type. It can be caused by many different viruses, including noroviruses and rotaviruses. Some people call viral gastroenteritis the "stomach flu." But this name is not medically correct. It is not caused by flu viruses. The flu is a respiratory infection that affects your nose, throat and lungs.

When gastroenteritis is caused by consuming foods or drinks contaminated with viruses, bacteria, parasites, or chemicals, this is called food poisoning.

The viruses, bacteria, and parasites that cause gastroenteritis can also spread from person to person. You could be infected when you touch something that has the germs on it and then touch your eyes, mouth, or nose.

The symptoms of gastroenteritis include:

• Diarrhea
• Pain or cramping in your abdomen (belly)
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Sometimes fever

Gastroenteritis is usually not serious. But it can sometimes cause lead to dehydration or cause severe symptoms. Certain people are at higher risk for these problems. They include:

• Pregnant women
• Older adults
• People with weakened immune systems or other serious health conditions
• Infants
• Babies who were born prematurely or have other health conditions

If you or a family member are at higher risk and have symptoms of gastroenteritis, contact a health care provider right away. Even if you are not at high risk, it is possible to become dehydrated or have more serious symptoms. There are some warning signs to watch for. It's important to contact a provider right away if you or your child have any of them:

• For adults, they include:
  • Change in mental state, such as irritability or lack of energy
  • Diarrhea lasting more than 2 days
  • High fever
  • Vomiting often
  • Six or more loose stools in a day
  • Severe pain in the abdomen (belly) or rectum
  • Stools that are black and tarry or contain blood or pus
  • Symptoms of dehydration, such as thirst, dry mouth, headache, dark-colored urine, and urinating less than normal
• For infants and children, they include:
  • Change in the child's mental state, such as irritability or lack of energy
  • Diarrhea lasting more than a day
  • Any fever in infants
  • High fever in older children
  • Frequent loose stools
  • Vomiting often
  • Severe pain in the abdomen (belly) or rectum
  • Signs or symptoms of dehydration, such as thirst, dry mouth, urinating less than usual or no wet diapers for 3 hours or more, and no tears when crying
  • Stools that are black and tarry or contain blood or pus

To find out if you have gastroenteritis, your provider:

• Will do a physical exam
• Will ask about your symptoms
• May do tests of your stool

Usually, people with gastroenteritis get better on their own, with rest and plenty of fluids and electrolytes. Your provider may suggest that you take a probiotic. Studies suggest that some probiotics may help shorten a case of diarrhea.

People with more severe symptoms may need medicines to control nausea or vomiting. Providers may also give other medicines for certain types of gastroenteritis, such as antibiotics for some bacterial types and antiparasitic medicines for some parasitic types.

Gastroenteritis cannot always be prevented. But proper hand washing, cleaning surfaces that may be infected with germs, and safe food preparation may help prevent some of the infections that can cause gastroenteritis. There are vaccines for infants to protect against rotavirus infections.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases