If left untreated, coeliac disease can lead to anaemia, osteoporosis, unexplained infertility and neurological conditions such as
gluten ataxia and neuropathy.
Gluten, a protein found in whole grains, causes a reaction in people with celiac disease,
gluten ataxia (an autoimmune disorder), and non-celiac gluten intolerance.
People diagnosed with the disease must maintain a strict gluten-free diet for the rest of their life if they are to avoid very serious complications such as osteoporosis, infertility and neurological conditions such as
gluten ataxia and neuropathy.
The autoimmune category includes celiac disease (CD), dermatitis herpetiformis, and
gluten ataxia. Nonceliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) belongs to the third category, which is the newest and least studied but also the most intriguing.
These include celiac disease, where eating gluten causes the immune system to destroy villi of the small intestine responsible for absorbing nutrients; wheat allergy, which occurs when a person's immune system reacts abnormally to wheat proteins;
gluten ataxia, a rare genetic neurological autoimmune condition; and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, where gluten intake can cause generalised symptoms such as fatigue and gut symptoms.
Health care providers are currently seeing an explosion in the incidence of
gluten ataxia, early dementia, Parkinson's, and aberrant brain function with no clear diagnosis.
Aeschlimann D, Dietary treatment of
gluten ataxia. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 2003; 74:1221-24
Gluten sensitivity may present with ataxia known as
gluten ataxia.24% percent of idiopathic cerebellar ataxia is a gluten induced ataxia.
Chattopadhyay et al., "Clinical, radiological, neurophysiological, and neuropathological characteristics of
gluten ataxia," The Lancet, vol.
Others include dermatitis herpetiformis, identified by an itchy rash, and the neurological condition
gluten ataxia. Many doctors often mistake this disorder for Parkinson's disease.
This is because the gluten reaction, called
gluten ataxia, targets the cerebellum, the center that controls coordination and complex movements.
Autoantibodies in
gluten ataxia recognize a novel neuronal transglu taminase.