Adult Onset Celiac Disease
Elder Care in Fairfax County VA: Adult Onset Celiac Disease
If you are the family caregiver for an elderly loved one, you are probably on the lookout for any signs and symptoms that they aren’t feeling well. If you have noticed some chronic gastrointestinal distress and nothing seems to fix it, you may be witnessing adult onset celiac disease. If this seems too strange to be true, it’s time to get educated on this little-studied area of celiac disease.
What is Celiac Disease?
Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that makes the body react violently to wheat gluten. Specifically, when someone with celiac disease eats gluten, found in wheat and some other grains, the walls of the small intestine become damaged. Over time, celiac disease can lead to many other health problems. Most people don’t associate celiac disease with the elderly, which is why it is commonly undiagnosed. Elderly loved ones may be suffering needlessly because the treatment for celiac disease is a strict change in diet. The good news is that once the diet is adjusted, symptoms almost always go away for good.
What are the Symptoms of Celiac Disease in Seniors?
Symptoms of celiac disease in seniors can include a range of gastrointestinal disorders like bloating, gas, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, constipation and diarrhea. Other symptoms include weight loss, skin rashes, mouth ulcers and heartburn. Celiac disease is also linked to several other disorders like anemia, hypothyroidism and intestinal lymphoma. If you, other family members and elder care aides are noticing an increase in these symptoms, it may be a good idea to schedule a visit with the doctor for further exploration.
Changing Your Loved One’s Diet.
When an elderly loved one is diagnosed with celiac disease, they need to follow a strict gluten-free diet. Doctors can refer seniors to dieticians that can help them create a nutritious gluten-free diet. Foods to avoid include wheat, spelt, graham flour, malt, rye, barley and bulgur. For those with extreme sensitivities, they should look at labels for nonfood products to check for gluten, such as vitamins, supplements, toothpaste, lipstick, and more. When gluten is no longer present in the diet, your elderly loved one will notice an improvement within a week or two as the small intestine won’t get irritated or inflamed.
According to medical research, the majority of seniors with celiac disease are anemic, as high as 80 percent. This and other malnutrition conditions are often the best way to figure out celiac disease in the elderly. Family caregivers that are focused on the health and wellness of their elderly loved ones need to be persistent with doctors, senior care aides and others that assist with family care to document symptoms and become better observers about the senior’s condition. Close follow-up of treatments to various diagnoses will be the best indicator of whether a diagnosis for celiac disease is correct or something else is the correct one.
Diagnosing and treating celiac disease in seniors requires coordination among multiple people, like other family members, church and community groups, elder care assistants and more. Keeping seniors with celiac disease both happy and healthy is definitely possible, and they can look forward to many wonderful years, albeit without wheat and related products.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional elder care in Fairfax County, VA, please contact the caring staff at LivinRite Home Care. Call Us Today at (703) 634-9991. Serving Northern Virginia, The Valley, and Surrounding Communities
Source:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3227015/
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