🌾 Celiac Disease Complications Simulator

Untreated Celiac Disease — Villous Atrophy and Malabsorption

Gluten-driven immune damage flattens small-intestine villi, cutting absorption.

• Marsh 3: Villous atrophy (placeholder classification stage)
• −80%: Absorption surface (placeholder severe atrophy case)
• Variable: Symptom onset (placeholder — often silent)
• ~6-10y: Diagnosis delay (placeholder average estimate)

Villous damage mechanism

Placeholder — autoimmune response flattens villi, shrinking absorptive area.

Downstream consequences

Placeholder — reduced absorption cascades into multiple deficiency states.

Placeholder — untreated damage compounds silently for years.

Bone Density Loss From Chronic Calcium & Vitamin D Malabsorption

Poor calcium and vitamin D uptake weakens bone over years.

• ↑Elevated: Fracture risk (placeholder relative risk)
• Years 2-5: Bone loss onset (placeholder typical window)
• Partial: Reversibility (placeholder with gluten-free diet)
• DEXA scan: Screening tool (placeholder standard method)

Calcium/vitamin D pathway

Placeholder — malabsorbed calcium and vitamin D reduce bone mineralization.

Long-term skeletal impact

Placeholder — cumulative loss raises fracture risk with age.

Placeholder — early diagnosis limits skeletal damage.

Iron, Vitamin B12, and Folate Deficiency in Untreated Celiac Disease

Duodenal damage impairs iron, B12, and folate absorption sites.

• Common: Iron deficiency (placeholder anemia driver)
• Ileum: B12 absorption site (placeholder less affected early)
• Proximal jejunum: Folate absorption site (placeholder most affected)
• High: Anemia prevalence (placeholder in untreated cases)

Deficiency progression

Placeholder — nutrient gauges fall as severity and years increase.

Clinical signs

Placeholder — fatigue and anemia often signal deficiency.

Placeholder — repletion follows a strict gluten-free diet.

Years Untreated — Compounding Risk Across All Complications

Every additional untreated year deepens malabsorption and its harms.

• Years untreated: Exposure metric (placeholder primary driver)
• 0-10 scale: Severity metric (placeholder secondary driver)
• Nonlinear: Compounding effect (placeholder risk interaction)
• Early diagnosis: Mitigation (placeholder key lever)

Time as a risk multiplier

Placeholder — longer exposure worsens bone, nutrient, and lymphoma risk.

Modeling the burden

Placeholder — overall burden score aggregates all three tracks.

Placeholder — cumulative years drive the composite burden score.

Enteropathy-Associated T-Cell Lymphoma — A Rare Late Complication

Chronic untreated inflammation slightly raises rare intestinal lymphoma risk.

• Rare: EATL rarity (placeholder overall incidence)
• Years untreated: Risk driver (placeholder main factor)
• Gluten-free diet: Risk reduction (placeholder mitigation)
• Older adults: Onset age (placeholder typical pattern)

Mechanism of elevated risk

Placeholder — chronic inflammation over decades raises malignancy risk.

Why early treatment matters

Placeholder — timely diagnosis keeps lymphoma risk near baseline.

Placeholder — risk elevation is strongly tied to years untreated.