Where did the term “Celiac Disease" Come From?
Celiac sprue disease was first described in the second century, but it wasn't until the 20th century that rudimentary causative factors were identified. Terminology changed as research confirmed that celiac disease diagnosed in children was the same disease as non-tropical sprue diagnosed in adults. The term "celiac disease" is now most commonly used. Another term for the same condition includes "gluten sensitive enteropathy." |
A Brief History of Celiac Disease
As far back as 250 A.D., Aretaeus of Cappadocia included detailed descriptions of an unnamed disease in his writings. When describing his patients he referred to them as "koiliakos," which meant "suffering in the bowels." Francis Adams translated these observations from Greek to English for the Sydenham Society of England in 1856. He thus gave sufferers the moniker "celiacs."
In 1888, Dr. Samuel Gee, United Kingdom, of the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children first presented a set of clinical accounts of both children and adults with Celiac Disease. In the account Gee stated that “to regulate the food is the main part of treatment. The allowance of farinaceous foods must be small, but if the patient can be cured at all, it must be by means of diet.” In this statement Gee is credited with being the first to link diet to celiac treatment. September 13th is designated National Celiac Disease Awareness Day in honor of Gee’s birthday. CSA uses this day to increase national CD awareness.
|
Dr. Samuel Gee |
Dr. Willem Karel Dicke, a Dutch pediatrician, recognized in 1952 that the disease is caused by the ingestion of wheat proteins. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the subject for the University of Utrecht in 1950. By 1954, Dicke, Charlotte Anderson and a number of their colleagues, working in Birmingham, England confirmed the treatment and described the histologic damage to the intestinal mucosa as being directly related to celiac disease.
|
Dr. Willem Karel Dicke |
|
