Celiac Disease (cont.)

The terms latent and silent celiac disease are used to refer to individuals who have inherited the genes that predispose them to celiac disease but have not developed the symptoms or signs of celiac disease.

Latent celiac disease refers specifically to individuals who have abnormal antibody blood tests for celiac disease (see discussion of specific tests for celiac disease) but who have normal small intestine and no signs or symptoms of celiac disease. For example:

• Some individuals may have had a childhood onset of celiac disease and the disease may have been successfully treated with a gluten-free diet. The individuals' intestines may have resumed a normal appearance and function, and they may have no signs or symptoms of celiac disease.
  
  
• Some individuals with celiac disease in childhood abandon the gluten free diet as adults, yet they remain free of the signs or symptoms of celiac disease.

In both of the above instances, the celiac disease is latent, and the individuals can develop signs and symptoms of celiac disease later in life.

Silent celiac disease refers to individuals who have abnormal antibody blood tests for celiac disease as well as loss of villi in the small intestine but have no symptoms or signs of celiac disease, even on a diet that contains gluten. Like individuals with latent celiac disease, these people can develop signs or symptoms of celiac disease later in life.

The following diseases are associated with celiac disease:

• An estimated 10% of individuals with celiac disease also have dermatitis herpetiformis. Dermatitis herpetiformis is a disease of the skin that is characterized by an itchy rash on the extremities, buttocks, neck, trunk, and scalp.
  
  
• Recurrent painful mouth ulcers (aphthous stomatitis)
  
  
• Insulin-dependent diabetes (juvenile-onset or type 1 diabetes)
  
  
• Autoimmune thyroid disease
  
  
• Rheumatoid arthritis
  
  
• Systemic lupus

Source: MedicineNet.com
http://www.medicinenet.com/celiac_disease/article.htm