The AB Design can be used to quickly assess the effects of an experimental variable. Its main disadvantage its inability to distinguish the experimental effect from possible confounds that might occur coincident with the change of condition.
ceÂ·liÂ·ac disÂ·ease. A disease occurring in children and adults characterized by sensitivity to gluten, with chronic inflammation and atrophy of the mucosa of the upper small intestine; manifestations include diarrhea, malabsorption, steatorrhea, and nutritional and vitamin deficiencies.
Gluten-sensitive enteropathy or, as it is more commonly called, celiac disease, is an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the small intestine that is precipitated by the ingestion of gluten, a component of wheat protein, in genetically susceptible persons.