Often, the disease doesn t have any notable symptoms, especially when it occurs during adulthood. Infants with celiac disease may experience failure to thrive. Children may not grow properly and end up shorter in height than their peers. Women with celiac disease may experience miscarriages or fetal abnormalities in their pregnancies. In extreme cases, the condition can lead to cancer of the intestinal tract.
Researchers don t know the exact cause of celiac disease.
It can take months or years for intestinal damage to develop. Diagnosing and Treating Celiac Disease Blood tests can help guide doctors in making a diagnosis of celiac disease. The tests look for the presence of antibodies produced by the body against the gluten and damaged intestinal tissue. But these tests aren t an absolute marker for the disease. Some people can have it without any detectable levels of the antibodies while others with the antibodies don t have the disease.