05 December 2023 , 14:14
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People have been told of symptoms of a potentially deadly disease where you have an intolerance to gluten.
While awareness of coeliac disease has risen in recent years, around two-third of the UK population who have the condition have not had it diagnosed - which equates to an estimated half a million people, states charity Coeliac UK.
And an academic study has shown the dangers of not having coeliac treated where it could lead to a whole host of serious conditions including cancer. “Patients with untreated CD are at risk of some diverse manifestations that include osteoporosis, infertility, lymphoma, and other autoimmune disorders, such as diabetes mellitus and thyroiditis,” stated Prof Gonul Caltepe of Ondokuz Mayıs University, who authored the research published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
"Treatment with gluten-free diet precludes most of these complications. This raises the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of the disease, especially in subjects with silent CD. It is impossible to identify asymptomatic patients without screening. This study indicates that despite improved recognition rate of diagnosis there are still asymptomatic patients who are undiagnosed. Awareness should be increased, especially for individuals who are at a high risk for disease development."
Coeliac disease is a condition where your immune system attacks your own tissues when you eat gluten. This damages your gut (small intestine) so your body cannot properly take in nutrients, states the NHS. It can cause a range of symptoms, including diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloating. It is caused by an adverse reaction to gluten, which is a dietary protein found in three types of cereal: wheat, barley and rye.
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Coeliac disease symptoms
- diarrhoea
- stomach aches
- bloating and flatulence
- indigestion
- constipation
Coeliac disease can also cause more general symptoms, including:
- tiredness (fatigue) as a result of not getting enough nutrients from food (malnutrition)
- unintentional weight loss
- an itchy rash (dermatitis herpetiformis)
- problems getting pregnant (infertility)
- nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy)
- disorders that affect co-ordination, balance and speech (ataxia)
Coeliac disease leads to damage of the surface of the small bowel, disrupting the body's ability to take in nutrients from food. It's not entirely clear what causes the immune system to act this way, but a combination of genetics and the environment appear to play a part. There's no cure for coeliac disease, but following a gluten-free diet should help control symptoms and prevent the long-term complications of the condition.
People are also being told to be aware of a "silent" version of coeliac where there are no typical symptoms. “Silent coeliac is when someone has coeliac disease, a reaction to the gluten protein but they do not manifest symptoms from the disease,” Dr Rabia De Latour, gastroenterologist at NYU Grossman School of Medicine told Huffington Post. “They can have the physical manifestations of the disease like small bowel inflammation but without the GI symptoms like diarrhoea and abdominal pain.”