By Coeliac Australia
COULD IT BE
COELIAC
DISEASE?
I
f you have clients who
complain of ongoing
symptoms, it may pay to
explore the likelihood of it
being coeliac disease.
Coeliac disease is very common and
affects approximately 1 in 70 Australians
but alarmingly only 20 per cent of those
are diagnosed. But why is this?
Coeliac disease is such an underdiagnosed condition because it presents
itself in a wide variety of ways. Often
people have many symptoms, which
seem unrelated. Let’s be realistic, at
times almost everyone suffers from
diarrhoea or constipation, headaches,
tiredness, stomach pains and bloating
(just to name a few symptoms). This is
okay if they are short lived but if they
are ongoing or frequent then it may be
time to do some investigations. To further
complicate things, it is possible to have
coeliac disease with no symptoms.
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune
condition, which means the body
26
produces antibodies that attack its own
tissues. For people with coeliac disease,
this is triggered by gluten – a protein
found in wheat, rye, barley and oats.
Diagnosis of coeliac disease is
straightforward – a simple blood test
is the first step. If positive – a referral to
a gastroenterologist for a small bowel
biopsy – a day procedure under a light
anaesthetic is the final step. Coeliac
disease is a genetic condition; it is highly
recommended that first-degree relatives
are screened f