Resumen

CRESPO TOLEDO, F.I; ACHA UZEDA, F.O; ANDIA MENDIETA, J.F  y  LOPEZ MENESES, A.. Enfermedad Celiaca, un asesino silencioso.. Arch.Boliv.Med. [online]. 2018, vol.29, n.97, pp. 39-43. ISSN 0004-0525.

SUMMARY Celiac disease is a chronic autoimmune disea-se caused by the ingestion of gluten- a group of proteins present in oats, wheat, barley and rye- among genetically predisposed individuals; causing a decrease in the diet nutrients absorp-tion capacity. (1) The identification of the disease is key to avoid disease development at the intestinal (malab-sorption syndrome) or immunological level (lupus). Thus far, there have been no studies about the prevalence of celiac disease in the population of Chuquisaca, which is why a pre-diagnosis was made based on the key signs and symptoms in the disease to establish an approximate number of potential celiac patients. Methods. Descriptive, cross-cutting research on 339 students -17 to 28 years old, of the Fa-culty of Medicine of the San Francisco Xavier University of Chuquisaca- participated in the study. As a result of this study, it was established that 41 % of women and 56% of men are aware of celiac disease; while 59% and 44%, respecti-vely, have no knowledge of the disease. Thus, the presence of signs and symptoms cha-racteristic of celiac disease was established in high rates of the studied population and an in-creased frequency of these symptoms was also found in female students. Although they can be manifestations linked to intolerance to gluten or even symptoms of mere gastritis, with the surveys made among Medicine students, the present study shows that the celiac disease is a fact in the healthcare careers students of San Francisco Xavier University. The main objective of our study identi-fies possible cases of celiac disease based on the pre-diagnosis supported by the sign-symptomatology presented among the students of the Faculty of Medicine.

Palabras llave : Celiac disease; pre-diagnosis; Sucre; prevalence.