Celiac Disease Background, Treatment and Study Findings

Gastroenterology

Celiac Disease Background, Treatment and Study Findings

July 11, 2010

Joseph Murray, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and specialist in celiac disease, offers an overview of celiac disease and its symptoms as well as its diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Murray led a recent Mayo Clinic study of celiac disease, the results of which become public on July 1, 2009. This video provides background and provides context for those study findings.

Joseph Murray, M.D. describes the findings of Mayo Clinic research published July 1, 2009 in the journal Gastroenterology concerning the increased prevalence of celiac disease and the higher mortality for people who have celiac disease but don't know it. People with celiac disease are allergic to proteins (glutens) found in wheat, barley and rye grains. In these people glutens stimulate an immune reaction in the small intestine, which causes an inability to absorb certain nutrients from food.