HTML (Here I Type My Life)

It's an intriguing thought. For those of you who don't know, yes, I have celiac disease. I try not to take the "woe is me" approach though, as there are many worse things in life. However, a friend of mine asked me today if I could have been at more of a risk for a fracture because of my celiac, and I had to admit I really didn't know.

Upon further research (yeah, I use Wikipedia. It hasn't failed me yet, so take your complaints elsewhere), I found this regarding celiac disease: Calcium and vitamin D malabsorption (and compensatory secondary hyperparathyroidism) may cause osteopenia (decreased mineral content of the bone) or osteoporosis (bone weakening and risk of fragility fractures).

So there's that answer, I guess. Apparently, I'm also at an increased risk for the following:

Adenocarcinoma and lymphoma of the small bowel
Ulcer formation in the small bowel
Malabsorption of nutrients, minerals, and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K)
Weight loss
Fatigue
Lactose intolerance
Deficiencies in iron, vitamin B12, and folic acid
Abnormal bleeding (due to vitamin K deficiency)
Infections and autoimmune diseases (basically a weakened immune system)
Dermatitis herpetiformis
Epilepsy
Ataxia
Myelopathy
Peripheral neuropathy
Schizophrenia
Growth failure
Infertility =(
Hyposplenism
Diabetes mellitus type 1
Autoimmune thyroiditis
Primary biliary cirrhosis
Microscopic colitis

I don't know what most of those are, and I don't have time to research extensively right now. It's a pretty scary list though. Blood tests have already shown that I'm B1 and zinc deficient, and my family has an extensive history of osteoporosis. I'm already lactose intolerant as well. My fingers are crossed that it stops there for me, I don't need any more problems.

And I would probably cry if I found out I could never have children.

But in the end, all I can do is lift it up to God; if it's His plan for me to contribute to the exponential growth of the human population, then that's great, but if not, I can handle it. The same goes for the rest of those conditions. I'd rather avoid cancer and diabetes too if possible. Thanks in advance. =P