A gluten-free diet remains the most effective treatment
This article covers treatment options for celiac disease.
You may need to tweak your diet, even if it otherwise seems healthy and balanced.
It can also take time to learn your body’s triggers and the ingredients causing your flares.
Milko / Getty Images
To control celiac disease, you may need to avoid many, if not all, sources of gluten.
This will depend on how sensitive you are to gluten and thestage of your disease.
Cereal grains are a central part of the Western diet and a major source of gluten.
Prescription and over-the-counter medications sometimes use wheat gluten as a binding agent.
Talk to your gastroenterologist about the drugs you are taking so that substitutions can be made.
Vitamins and dietary supplements that contain wheat gluten must have “wheat” listed on the label.
This is not always easy.
On the other hand, placing a child without celiac disease on a gluten-free diet can be unhealthy.
It is important, therefore, to gain the support of those around you.
But, for some people, this may not be enough.
The first-line drug of choice is a class of steroids known asglucocorticoids.
Prednisolone and budesonide are the two oral glucocorticoids most commonly prescribed.
Other pharmaceutical options include:
In rare cases when T-cell lymphoma is diagnosed, combination chemotherapy would be used.
The mainstay of treatment isCHOP therapy, which stands for the drugscyclophosphamide,doxorubicin,vincristine, andprednisone.
Peppermint Oil
Peppermint oilhas antispasmodic (anti-spasm) effects that may help ease intestinal cramping and spasms.
Peppermint oil taken directly by mouth may cause heartburn and stomach upset.Enteric-coated peppermint capsulesare less likely to cause harm.
Excessive doses of peppermint oil can be toxic.
Slippery Elm Powder
Slippery elm powderis derived from the bark of the slippery elm.
Some people believe that it can protect the intestines by creating a mucus-like coating as it is digested.
Once you stop eating gluten, your intestinal tract canrecoverto some degree and you may begin absorbing nutrients normally.
If you’re older, it may take up to two years.
you’ve got the option to’t.
Celiac disease is geneticit is not acquired, so you cannot reverse an inherited predisposition to the disease.
If you aren’t predisposed to celiac disease, a gluten-free diet will not protect you from it.
If you develop symptoms you suspect may be due to celiac disease, see your primary care provider first.
Yoosuf S, Makharia G.Evolving therapy for celiac disease.Front Pediatr.
2018 Feb;14(2):82-91.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Gluten and food labeling.
Cao G, Volta U, Sapone A.Celiac disease: A comprehensive review.BMC Med.
2019 Jul;17(1):142. doi:10.1186/s12916-019-1380-z
Makharia G.Current and emerging therapy for celiac disease.Front Med.
2014;4(1):004587. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004587
Beth Israel Lahey Health Winchester Hospital.Medications for celiac disease.
2018 Jul;24(7):656-665. doi:10.1089/acm.2017.0422
Celiac Disease Foundation.What is celiac disease?.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Celiac disease.
Celiac Disease Foundation.Find a healthcare provider.
Rubio-Tapia A, Murray J.Classification and management of refractory celiac disease.Gut.2010 Apr;59(4):547-57. doi:10.1136/gut.2009.195131.
