History of Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is a gluten sensitive enteropathy of autoimmune origin, characterized by inflammation and villous atrophy of the small bowel mucosa, that impairs nutrient absorption.

From early history that various digestive complaints were common place. There was one record from second century AD sounds much like what today known as celiac disease.

Historically, the term celiac disease evolved within pediatric practice during the nineteenth century, defining children with severe wasting and putrid stools.

The first description of the disease clinical feature was provided by Samuel Gee in 1888.

In the earlier twentieth century, similar complaints in adults were categorized as intestinal insufficiency or idiopathic steatorrhea.

It was also realized at that time that for many of these adult patients celiac features had been present since early childhood.

It was not until the 1940s that the link between celiac disease symptoms and eating gluten was first noted.

In 1953, a Dutch pediatrician, observed that the ingestion of certain cereal grains were harmful to children with this disease.

In the same year, Lauretta Bender called attention to the high incidence of celiac diseases among patients diagnosed as ‘schizophrenic’.

Celiac disease is one of the the most common chronic disorders in Europe and the US affecting about 1% of the population.
History of Celiac Disease