Hi, I'm Cathy with Level Up RN. In this video, I'm going to continue my coverage of topics from our Level Up RN Nutrition Flashcard deck. Specifically, I'll be talking about celiac disease. And at the end of the video, I'm going to give you guys a quiz to test your understanding of some of the key points I'll be covering, so definitely stay tuned for that. And if you have our flashcards, go ahead and pull out your flashcard on celiac disease so you can follow along with me.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease where the ingestion of gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, leads to damage to the villi in the small intestine. The villi are finger-like projections that line the small intestine and allow for the absorption of nutrients. Over time, damage to the villi leads to malabsorption as well as permanent intestinal damage. Signs and symptoms of celiac disease include bloating, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation, gas, steatorrhea, which is fatty, loose, malodorous stool, and weight loss. Treatment of celiac disease includes a strict gluten-free diet. This means the patient will need to avoid barley, rye, wheat, and potentially oats. So to be clear, pure oats do not contain gluten, but they are commonly processed in facilities that process gluten-containing grains. So the risk for cross-contamination is very high.
Our cool chicken hint to help you remember what foods to avoid with celiac disease is to think brown. So B is for barley, R is for rye, O is for oats, W is for wheat, and N is for nope. You should advise your patient to substitute these grains with alternative grains such as corn, rice, or millet.
All right. It's quiz time. Are you guys ready?
Question number 1. With celiac disease, ingestion of gluten causes damage to the blank?
The answer is the small intestine, and specifically, the villi in the small intestine.
Question number 2. Which grains contain gluten?
The answer is barley, rye, and wheat.
Question number 3. Why do some providers recommend that patients with celiac disease avoid oats?
The answer is because they are commonly processed in facilities that process gluten-containing grains.
All right. That's it for this video. I hope it was helpful. Take care and good luck with studying.
