Patient Assessment and Diagnosis Essay -- celiac disease

Regina Geis is a ten-year old female who is diagnosed with celiac disease. No one in her immediate family has been diagnosed, including her parents and her younger sister. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease of the digestive system that is usually indicated by long-lasting inflammation in the small intestine that occurs when a protein from the plant called gluten, which is usually found in grains such as wheat, barley, and rye, is consumed, resulting in an interference of absorption of nutrients from food (Calvo, Soriano del Castillo, & Vinuesa, 2012.) Regina was diagnosed with celiac disease when she was five. After she was diagnosed, she was put on a gluten-free diet. Regina was a healthy baby, toddler, and preschooler, or so her parents thought. Regina did have some unexplained incidents. When she was just a baby, there were a couple of occasions where she cried nonstop. As a toddler, Regina visited the emergency room occasionally with intense stomach aches. In addition, when she was in preschool, her parents would sometimes get a phone call from the school nurse saying, â€Å"Regina has a tummy ache and wants to go home.† When the doctors examined her, there was no explanation or answer to what was causing her severe stomach pain. Since Regina’s incidents were very far apart from one another, her parents did not think to worry. It was not until Regina started kindergarten that she started showing symptoms characteristic of celiac disease. She was showing great fatigue and when taken to the doctor was found to have iron-deficient anemia. When further blood tests were taken, the doctors found the iron-deficient anemia to be part of a larger problem and, after more tests, formally diagnosed her with celiac disease. T... ...D: TSTGP Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) Antibodies, IgA and IgG Profile, Serum. Mayo Medical Laboratories . Mayo Foundation For Medical Education And Research.http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/test-catalog/Clinical+and+Interpretive/83671 â€Å"Overview.† (2014). The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from Cureceliacdisease.org http://www.cureceliacdisease.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/ 09/CDCFactSheets1_Overview.pdf "Symptoms". (2014). The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. Retrieved March 09, 2014, from Cureceliacdisease.org.http://www.cureceliacdisease.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ CDCFactSheets2_Symptoms.pdf "Treatment". (2014). The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. Retrieved March 14, 2014, from Cureceliacdisease.org.http://www.cureceliacdisease.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ CDCFactSheets6_Treatment.pdf