Thousands of people in Wales could be suffering with coeliac disease with no knowledge that they have the condition due to experiencing lesser-known symptoms. According to leading charity Coeliac UK around 20,000 people in Wales are potentially suffering with the debilitating symptoms of undiagnosed coeliac disease.
The autoimmune condition causes the body to attack its own tissue when people eat gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye. If left untreated it can cause gut damage and serious health complications. The only treatment for the disease is a strict gluten-free diet for life.
The most common symptoms of the condition, according to the NHS, are diarrhoea, abdominal pain, bloating and passing wind, indigestion, constipation, and vomiting.
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According to Coeliac UK there are five lesser-known related symptoms of the condition that many people may not be aware of. These are:
- Extreme fatigue
- Persistent mouth ulcers
- Unexplained anaemia
- Neurological symptoms – problems with your coordination, balance, and speech
- Unexplained subfertility (both male and female) and recurrent miscarriage
New research highlights the lack of awareness of some of these symptoms with 93% of UK adults unaware that subfertility or recurrent miscarriage are symptoms of coeliac disease while 88% are unaware of mouth ulcers and 70% aren’t aware of iron, vitamin deficiency, or anaemia as a symptom.
Coeliac UK has set up an online questionnaire, based on the Nice guidelines for diagnosing Coeliac disease, for those seeking answers around their unexplained symptoms. However it is important that people do not cut gluten from their diet unless they have been given a coeliac diagnosis. This is because gluten must be in the diet or the test for the condition could give a false negative result. The self-assessment is available here.
Hilary Croft, Coeliac UK CEO, said: “When someone who has been experiencing coeliac disease symptoms finally gets an answer to the cause the positive changes can be momentous. We’ve seen some people struggle with symptoms of coeliac disease for decades unaware that there is a treatment – a medically-prescribed gluten-free diet. However awareness still needs to be increased with more than a quarter (26%) of the UK population reporting to have never heard of coeliac disease. This increases to over 75% for the lesser-known symptoms despite them being key indicators that something is not quite right and that the person may have undiagnosed coeliac disease. There are many more symptoms of coeliac disease than the usual gut-related issues and the condition is different for everyone. ”
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