Hey everyone! Sorry it’s been so long since I posted last. I feel like there is so much more I could talk about with coeliac disease but I’ve tried to narrow it down to some facts that I thought were quite interesting and useful to know about.
Firstly coeliac disease affects 1 in 100 people in the UK and Europe and is often confused with an allergy when in actual fact it is an auto immune disease. However only 30% of those people are actually clinically diagnosed.
Secondly there is coeliac gene that you inherit, this can be tested from a blood test. If you don’t have the gene then there is no possible chance of you having coeliac disease. If you do have the gene, that does not confirm you have the disease as the gene may not be active. You need to be fully diagnosed by having an endoscopy and biopsies taken.
Shockingly the average length of time for someone to be diagnosed is a staggering 13 years! There is no cure for coeliac disease and the only treatment is a strict gluten free diet for life and if that is not followed it can lead to nutritional deficiencies and other complications such as osteoporosis, cancer of the small bowel and unexplained infertility problems.
If someone with coeliac disease accidentally eats gluten they are highly likely to become ill within hours and the symptoms vary for each person but can include severe diarrhea, vomitting, and extreme tiredness, this can last up to several days. Not only do you need to be aware about the ingredients in foods but cross contamination too.
You need to be mindful that foods can also be contaminated by other gluten containing foods through preparation. Examples include; breadcrumbs in a toaster or on a knife used to butter other bread. Other quick facts include:
* If somone has coeliac disease there is a 1 in 10 chance of a close family member developing the disease.
* 1 in 4 people with coeliac disease are misdiagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, so anyone who has IBS should also be tested for coeliac disease.
* People with the disease can’t join the armed forces
* Depending on where you live, people diagnosed can receive gluten free food on prescription.
*The disease can affect every organ in your body and has over 300 symptoms.
*Approximately 20% of people with coeliac disease are asymptomatic, which means they have no external symptoms but are still at risk of the long term complications
*The later the age of being diagnosed with coeliac disease means the more chance you have of developing another auto immune disease
*There is a national charity called Coeliac UK which you can go to for any advice and information you need for living with the disease
* You can also use http://www.isitcoeliacdisease.org.uk to check your symptoms and find out more about coeliac disease
*Any food that is labeled as ‘gluten free’ can’t contain more than 20 parts per million of gluten as this is the safe threshold of gluten consumption for people with coeliac disease.
I hope this is useful and you found it interesting. In my next post I will carry on with my journey on how I got diagnosed.
Thank you for reading, wishing you all positive vibes x
The Butterfly Effect 