I thought I understood celiac disease when I learned about it in medical school more than twenty years ago. In truth, I didn’t fully appreciate how significant this condition can be. At the time, I mistakenly grouped celiac disease with lactose intolerance. While both can cause digestive symptoms, they are fundamentally different. Lactose intolerance occurs when the small intestine produces less lactase, the enzyme needed to digest lactose, the sugar found in milk. The result