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Celiac disease is a long-term digestive and immune disorder that affects the small intestine. Eating gluten-containing foods causes the disease. Gluten is a protein that can be found in wheat, barley, and rye.

Here are 20 facts about celiac disease that you should be aware of:

1. Celiac disease is a chronic, lifelong autoimmune disease.

2. 1 in 100 people worldwide has celiac disease.

3. Celiac disease affects approximately three million Americans.

4. 80% of Americans with celiac disease are undiagnosed.

5. People with a first-degree relative with celiac disease have a 1 in 10 chance of developing celiac disease.

6. More children have celiac disease than Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and cystic fibrosis combined.

7. Celiac disease can affect every organ in the body.

8. Lifelong adherence to the gluten-free diet is the only treatment for celiac disease.

9. Approximately 20% of people with celiac disease do not respond to the gluten-free diet.

10. There is an average delay of 6-10 years for an accurate diagnosis of celiac disease.

11. Without timely diagnosis, celiac disease can lead to intestinal cancers, type 1 diabetes, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, multiple sclerosis, anemia, infertility, miscarriage, epilepsy, and more.

12. There are over 300 symptoms associated with celiac disease.

13. Approximately 20% of people with celiac disease are asymptomatic, meaning that they have no external symptoms at all. However, everyone with celiac disease is at risk for long-term complications.

14. Celiac disease can develop at any age after people start eating foods or medications that contain gluten.

15. The later you are diagnosed with celiac disease, the greater your risk of developing another autoimmune condition.

16. There are two steps to diagnosing celiac disease: blood test and endoscopy.

17. People with celiac disease have an increased incidence of microscopic colitis and inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis).

18. People with celiac disease may have lactose and/or fructose intolerance, both of which can be diagnosed by a test.

19. People diagnosed with celiac disease are deficient in fiber, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, folate, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B12, and vitamin D.

20. Any food product that is labelled ‘gluten-free’ cannot contain more than 20 parts per million of gluten, which is the safe threshold of gluten consumption for people with coeliac disease.

If you want to find out about celiac disease, check out our article on this topic: What is celiac disease?

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