The lowdown on celiac disease
Celiac disease is not a food allergy, but an autoimmune disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. We know that almost a third of the population has a genetic predisposition to celiac disease, in that they have particular versions (DQ2 or DQ8) of a cellular receptor called the human leukocyte antigen (HLA). But we don’t know why only a fraction of those with this predisposition actually develop the disease.