Misdiagnosis of Celiac Disease

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Misdiagnosis of Celiac Diseasehttp://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/c/celiac_disease/misdiag.htmIntroduction: Misdiagnosis of Celiac DiseaseThe chronic digestive disorder celiac disease is not well known and often overlooked. Instead, it is often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome or another chronic digestive disease. In cases where the main symptoms are non-digestive symptoms such as anemia and fatigue, the condition might be misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, or other fatigue-causing disorders.Celiac disease was cited by Reader's Digest as one of the top 10 misdiagnosed diseases. In the article entitled "10 Diseases Doctors Miss", the 10 diseases mentioned were hepatitis C, lupus, celiac disease, hemochromatosis, aneurysm, Lyme disease, hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), chlamydia, and sleep apnea. 1Alternative diagnoses list for Celiac Disease:For a diagnosis of Celiac Disease, the following list of conditions have been mentioned in sources as possible alternative diagnoses to consider during the diagnostic process for Celiac Disease:* Digestive disease, chronic* Irritable Bowel Syndrome* Crohn's disease* Ulcerative colitis* Stomach ulcers* Diverticulosis* Intestinal infections (see Digestive symptoms)* Chronic fatigue syndrome* Depression* Malabsorption* Pancreatic insufficiency* Reduced bile salts* Lymphatic obstruction* Bacterial overgrowth* Tropical sprue* Lactase dificiency* Viral gastroenteritis* Whipple's disease* Giardiasis Diseases for which Celiac Disease may be an alternative diagnosisThe other diseases for which Celiac Disease is listed as a possible alternative diagnosis in their lists include:* Crohn's disease* Depression* Diabetic Diarrhea* Diabetic Gastroparesis* Food allergies* Food intolerances* Muscle cramps* Scleroderma* Ulcerative colitis* Wheat intolerance* Whipworm Discussion of diagnosis/misdiagnosis of Celiac Disease:Celiac disease could be underdiagnosed in the United States for a number of reasons:* Celiac symptoms can be attributed to other problems.* Many doctors are not knowledgeable about the disease.* Only a handful of U.S. laboratories are experienced and skilled in testing for celiac disease.More research is needed to find out the true prevalence of celiac disease among Americans. (Source: excerpt from Celiac Disease: NIDDK)Common Misdiagnoses and Celiac DiseaseChronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions that may be misdiagnosed. The best known, irritable bowel syndrome, is over-diagnosed, whereas other causes that are less known may be overlooked or misdiagnosed: celiac disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis (both are called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)), diabetic gastroparesis, diabetic diarrhea. Other possibilities include giardia, colon cancer, or other chronic infections.Intestinal bacteria disorder may be hidden cause: One of the lesser known causes of diarrhea is an imbalance of bacterial in the gut, sometimes called intestinal imbalance. The digestive system contains a variety of "good" bacteria that aid digestion, and they can decline for various reasons, leading to digestive symptoms such as diarrhea. The main treatment is to eat foods containing probiotics, typically yoghurt cultures. See intestinal imbalance and probiotics.Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill off not only "bad" bacteria, but can also kill the "good" bacteria in the gut. This leads to "digestive imbalance" where there are too few remaining "good" bacteria in the digestive system. The treatment is typically to use "probiotics", such as by eating yoghurt cultures containing more of the good bacteria. See digestive imbalance and probiotics.Food poisoning may actually be an infectious disease: Many people who come down with "stomach symptoms" like diarrhea assume that it's "something I ate" (i.e. food poisoning). In fact, it's more likely to be an infectious diarrheal illness (i.e. infectious diarrhea), that has been caught from another person. Such conditions may be transmitted via the fecal-oral route.Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over-diagnosed (it can, of course, also fail to be diagnosed with fatal effect). One of the most common misdiagnosed is for children with mesenteric adenitis to be misdiagnosed as appendicitis. Fortunately, thus misdiagnosis is usually less serious than the reverse failure to diagnose appendicitis.Celiac disease often fails to be diagnosed cause of chronic digestive symptoms: One of the most common chronic digestive conditions is celiac disease, a malabsorption disorder with a variety of symptoms (see symptoms of celiac disease). A variety of other chronic digestive disorders tend to be diagnosed rather than this condition. See introduction to celiac disease or misdiagnosis of celiac disease.Undiagnosed celiac disease in pregnancy harms fetus: The failure to diagnose the common but less known digestive disease celiac disease (see symptoms of celiac disease) is linked to adverse fetal outcomes. See misdiagnosis of celiac disease.Vitamin B12 deficiency under-diagnosed: The condition of Vitamin B12 deficiency is a possible misdiagnosis of various conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (see symptoms of multiple sclerosis). See symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency or misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis.Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases. Some of the better known possibilities are peptic ulcer, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, or GERD. Other sometimes overlooked possibilities include Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic appendicitis, Celiac disease, Carcinoid syndrome, gastroparesis, and others. See all types of chronic digestive diseases.Widely underdiagnosed- Coeliac disease: Coeliac disease is a widely underdiagnosed condition as most patients present with non gastrointestinal symptoms such as tiredness. It is autoimmune in nature and there could be a genetic factor with one in 10 chance of a first degree relative getting affected. It presents with a classical triad of diarrhoea, weight loss and iron of folate deficiency. Duodenal biopsy is the key diagnostic test. It can appear to any age and is associated with type 1 DM, dermatitis herpatiformis, Ig A deficiency, osteoporosis and autoimmune thyroid disease.Treat chronic diarrhoea seriously: Diarrhoea can be quite frightening and stressful for the patient. Serious disorders such as colorectal carcinoma must be considered in patients who present with a gradual onset of persistent diarrhoea. AIDS due to symptomatic HIV infection needs consideration especially in those at risk. Infectious disorders that can affect international travellers such as cholera, paratyphoid and amoebiasis should also be kept in mind and a detailed travel history must be taken from the patient. In children coeliac disease and fibrocystic disease present with chronic diarrhoea. Infection with Giardia lamblia may go on for months with watery stools before diagnosis.Medical news summaries about misdiagnosis of Celiac Disease:The following medical news items are relevant to misdiagnosis of Celiac Disease:* Celiac disease in the UK grossly underdiagnosed* Celiac disease is a chronically undiagnosed and misdiagnosed condition* Celiac disease more common than thought* Commonly confused celiac disease* Woman’s worrying weight loss took years to be diagnosed General Misdiagnosis ArticlesRead these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.* Misdiagnosis Overview* How Common is Misdiagnosis?* Over-Diagnosed Diseases* Under-Diagnosed Diseases* Types of Misdiagnosis* Wrong Type Misdiagnosis* Why Does Misdiagnosis Occur?* Difficult Diseases to Diagnose* More premium medical articles ...About misdiagnosis:When checking for a misdiagnosis of Celiac Disease or confirming a diagnosis of Celiac Disease, it is useful to consider what other medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative conditions relevant to diagnosis. These alternate diagnoses of Celiac Disease may already have been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Celiac Disease. For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases, see Overview of Misdiagnosis.Footnotes:1. Reader's Digest, February 2004, "10 Diseases Doctors Miss", page 120» Next page: Undiagnosed Celiac Disease