What Is Low Stomach Acid Production? Low stomach acid production is a common disorder in celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis that is characterized by lack of sufficient hydrochloric acid needed 1) to properly digest food, which results in malnutrition and ...

What Are Muscle Spasm, Muscle Cramps? Muscle spasm and muscle cramps are  disorders of muscle function caused by painful involuntary contractions of affected skeletal muscles characterized by limited movement. Q: What is the difference between muscle spasm and cramps? A: ...

What Is Depression? Depression is a mood disorder characterized by absence of cheerfulness, dejection, and loss of interest or pleasure in living, making the person dysfunctional and unable to cope with or perform tasks of daily living. More than a ...

What Is Chronic Syndrome Fatigue? Chronic fatigue syndrome is a debilitating illness characterized by persistent or relapsing overwhelming and incapacitating fatigue not relieved by rest, having a definite onset and often accompanied by numerous symptoms involving various body systems. This ...

What Is Headache Or Emicrania? Emicrania is a headache resulting from stimulation of, or traction of, or pressure on any of the pain sensitive structures of the head characterized by pain felt anywhere in the head. In addition to gluten ...

What Is Unexplained Weight Gain? Unexplained weight gain is characterized by increased body mass due to excess fat accumulation that is not desired by the individual. A body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 30 signifies being overweight. What Is ...

What Is Crohn’s Disease? Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by patchy inflamed areas involving the full thickness of the intestinal wall that can occur anywhere in the intestinal tract, in addition to, mucosal disease. In Crohn’s disease ...

What Is Chronic Fatigue? Chronic fatigue or lassitude is a state of weariness not relieved by rest and the inability to do normal physical or mental work. Q: What are causes of chronic fatigue? A: Chronic fatigue can be a ...

What Is Primary Addison’s Disease? Addison’s disease is an autoimmune destruction of the adrenal glands by autoantibodies that target the adrenal cortex, or outer part of these glands, and is characterized by a slow progressive failure of the adrenal glands ...

An inherited disease in which much of the genetic susceptibility maps to the HLA region on chromosome 6, as approximately 95% of celiac disease patients carry an almost identical HLA DQ2 heterodimer (DQA1*0501 DQB1*0201). In most individuals who are negative ...

The inherited immune sensitivity to ingested gluten in celiac disease is caused by activation of effector CD4+ T cells (T-helper cells) in the lamina propria (tissues underlying the mucosal surface) by peptides derived from gluten protein in wheat, rye, barley and, for some ...

Minute structures densely covering and projecting from the surface membrane (called brush border) of intestinal epithelial cells that form villi  for the purpose of absorbing nutrients and producing enzymes which finish digestion of carbohydrates including lactose, sucrose, and maltose and ...

Surface membrane of intestinal epithelial cells that compose villi where absorption of nutrients takes place by densely packed microvilli that form the brush border and which prevents physical contact between undigested food and bacteria within the small intestine and body ...

What Is Intestinal Dysbiosis? Intestinal dysbiosis is an imbalance of the composition and quantity of microbe populations (called the microbiota), that naturally inhabit our human gut. Dysbiosis causes altered gut immunity, abnormal fermentation of undigested foodstuffs, and impaired production within the ...

What Are Brittle Nails? Brittle nails are abnormalities of the nail plate that are characterized by poor nail structure affecting all fingernails and toenails seen as thin, dry nails that easily chip, split, and are difficult to maintain a clean ...