Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Coeliac disease - celiac disease in North America - is an autoimmune disease of the small intestine that occurs in genetically predisposed people of all ages from middle infancy onward. Symptoms include chronic diarrhoea, failure to thrive - in children - and fatigue. Coeliac disease is thought to affect between 1 in 1,750 and 1 in 105 people in the United States. It is caused by a reaction to gliadin, a prolamin - gluten protein - found in wheat, and similar proteins.