Other Causes Of Damaged Villi?

[Laura9]

Does anyone know if any illnesses other than Celiac Diseaes can cause flattened villi?

I had been very ill for 15 years until I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 2 years ago. Upon being diagnosed, I immediately went gluten free and felt much better for about a year. I was diagnosed via an endoscopy which showed flattened villi and inflammation in the small intestine. I had previously had 2 Celiac blood tests before the endoscopy, both of which came back negative. After that first year of being gluten free, I had another endoscopy. My villi had returned to normal and the inflammation was gone. However, for the last year I have experience severe bloating, constipation, body aches and gas. I am totally gluten free. Through my readings, I came across articles that say if you continue to eat the same foods, e.g. quinoa, you can develop an autoimmune response to that food. Has anyone experienced this? Thank you.

Laura

[jststric]

I am not a diagnosed Celiac. I believe myself ti be gluten-intolerant. I've been afraid of that very thing, as I am intolerant ofany things, leaving my choices few. If I ever start having problems with corn or soy, I will be in big trouble. But, so far, so good. I've been doing this for about 3 yrs.

[mushroom]

I developed an intolerance to citric acid 18 months after giving up gluten. Used a lot of lemons and juice, was eating lots of mandarins and bammo!! For me, it was itching. But potates and soy make me itch also. So yes, you do have to vary your diet. I am also an undiagnosed gluten intolerant (and soy, corn, nightshades).

[T.H.]

I don't know if other diseases cause flattened villi, but I would assume so. I ended up getting the biopsy first, and they still insisted on doing a blood test to 'confirm' celiac.

That seems to me like it means there are other possible causes of flattened villi, yes?

However, my GI had some stuff to say about the food sort of thing.

This is what he told me, in a nutshell.

1. Celiacs are more likely to be sensitive to dyes, additives, and preservatives in their food.

2. Celiacs are more likely to have food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities, and to develop food allergies to foods if they consume them on a daily basis.

3. Celiacs are more likely to react to genetically modified foods, usually by developing food allergies to OTHER foods (In studies, eating lots of genetically modified soy, for ex, seems to make animals develop peanut allergies. Weird stuff).

So he puts all his celiac patients on a rotation diet, with only organic (non-GM) foods, where you don't eat the same food for more than a day or two in a row.

Easiest way to check it is if you can change your diet so you are eating a food once every 2 or three days, and keep a log of your symptoms. See if something pops, yes? We did the elimination diet on top of this, where we took out all foods derived from the 8 major allergens. Found a few foods that did bad stuff to us, and now the family is feeling much better!

so sorry you are not, but I hope that you will find the answer soon.

Does anyone know if any illnesses other than Celiac Diseaes can cause flattened villi?

I had been very ill for 15 years until I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 2 years ago. Upon being diagnosed, I immediately went gluten free and felt much better for about a year. I was diagnosed via an endoscopy which showed flattened villi and inflammation in the small intestine. I had previously had 2 Celiac blood tests before the endoscopy, both of which came back negative. After that first year of being gluten free, I had another endoscopy. My villi had returned to normal and the inflammation was gone. However, for the last year I have experience severe bloating, constipation, body aches and gas. I am totally gluten free. Through my readings, I came across articles that say if you continue to eat the same foods, e.g. quinoa, you can develop an autoimmune response to that food. Has anyone experienced this? Thank you.

Laura

[hosette]

Kwashiorkor (severe protein deficiency) is the only other cause I can think of... you can look it up

[lcarter]

Yes, other diseases can cause villi blunting:

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"Endoscopic findings of the descending duodenum associated with celiac disease may include absence of folds, scalloped folds, visible submucosal blood vessels, mucosal mosaic pattern, and absence of villi. At histology, chronic inflammation of the duodenal mucosa with blunting or absence of villi accompanied by crypt hyperplasia is characteristic.

Although villous atrophy is not exclusive of celiac disease, it is considered a crucial finding. Other causes of blunted villi include tropical sprue, malnutrition, intolerance to cow's milk, soy protein intolerance, and infectious gastroenteritis. However, most of these conditions can be readily excluded on the basis of clinical history and laboratory data."

[sahm-i-am]

Yes, I have read that there are other things that can cause the intestinal villi to flatten. Cow milk being one that I can think of immediately. I read somewhere that corn is starting to do that to patients because food manufacturers are using so much of it in our foods, but I can't stand behind that until I find some more information. There are a few other diseases that cause villi blunting, too. If you Google it I'm sure some information will pop up.