I am hearing this for the first time that there was evidence of villi blunting in the biopsy. I am not sure why it was left out of our initial conversation. Can someone tell me what this is and is it always a sure sign of celiac? I know what villi are and I believe blunting is flattening I just need confirmation.
Blunted, misshapen or missing villi are exactly what celiac disease causes. The villi are very tiny hairlike projections on the inside of the small intestine. Because there are so many of them they present a large surface area to the food being digested. When the immune system in a person with celiac disease reacts to the proteins in wheat, barley or rye these villi become damaged and end up blunt and very short. As a result the surface area available to absorb nutrients is greatly reduced, and the person is very likely to suffer nutritional deficiencies as a result.
Fortunately if a person with celiac disease goes on a 100% absolutely strict gluten free diet their immune system stops attacking the villi, because it has no gluten to react with, and the villi usually grow back over the course of a few months or a year.
If the biopsy revealed blunted villi it seems to me to be almost completely certain that this child has celiac disease. In addition it would mean that you or his father carry the gene that makes it possible. Parents, brothers and sisters of children with celiac disease may want to consider having blood tests done to see if they too are producing the antibodies that trigger the immune system damage to the villi.
