Zöliakie

Abstract

The prevalence is steadily increasing (1 out of 100 inhabitants), especially in adults - mostly without typical abdominal symptoms. Screening with antibody tests such as endomysial and tissue transglutaminase antibodies lead to an improvement of early diagnosis, but the diagnosis has still to be done by duodenal biopsy during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The therapy is a strict, life-long gluten-free diet, but there is a risk of secondary complications in case of non-compliance. There are some ongoing studies on the improvement of therapeutic facilities (diet), but none of the studied methods is available until now.copyright © 2003-2009.