Symptoms and Treatments

Celiac disease damages the small intestine and interferes with your body’s absorption of nutrients from food. People with celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley grains. Though found mainly in foods, gluten also turns up in some medicines, vitamins and lip balms. Originally thought to be a rare childhood problem, celiac disease is now known as a common genetic disorder that affects more than 2 million people in the United States.

H. pylori infection occurs when a type of bacteria called Helicobacter pylori infects your stomach. This usually occurs during childhood. Known to be a common cause of peptic ulcers, H. pylori infects a large amount of the world’s population. Most people don’t realize they have H. pylori, because they never get sick from it. If you develop signs and symptoms of a peptic ulcer, Gastroenterology Associates will probably test you for H. pylori infection. We typically treat H. pylori with one of several regimens that include two or three antibiotics and an acid-suppressing drug.