Document Type
Honors Thesis
Abstract
Two and a half million Americans claim to be affected by an autoimmune disease called Celiac Disease (CD), with the majority of this group calling themselves what is called gluten-intolerant and following a gluten-free diet (GFD). The question I am addressing is, how could gluten, present in staple foods that have sustained society for thousands of years, suddenly become so threatening? The central hypothesis of my research is if not gluten, what other components in today’s world is causing the immune system to attack the body, causing gastrointestinal problems. The statistical technique of surveying a random sample that represents a bigger population is used to analyze the effect of a gluten-free diet on CD and other autoimmune disease patients, and the results are presented in forms of tables and graphs to make statistical comparisons. Studies that present gluten as a culprit in the flare up of CD and other autoimmune diseases, as well as those which have shown no effect of a GFD on patients with CD and other autoimmune diseases are used to discuss the theory. This study found that external factors causing a flare up in celiac patients is better supported than gluten causing or worsening this fatal disorder.
Publication Date
5-1-2016
Language
English
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Rupani, Miti, "CELIAC AND OTHER AUTOIMMUNE BOWEL DISEASES: IS GLUTEN INTOLERANCE OR URBANIZATION THE MAIN CULPRIT?" (2016). 2016 Spring Honors Capstone Projects. 4.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/honors_spring2016/4