Dr Philippa Kaye explains everything you need to know about coeliac disease
Mary came in to see me with her 12-year-old daughter, Katie, who told me that she had been having tummy aches for years.
Initially it was thought that this was down to constipation, but Katie reported that she hadn’t been constipated since she was much younger and that actually she now often had diarrhoea.
She had then been told that her tummy aches might have been related to anxiety.
There had been some issues with friends at school, but in the past few months Katie had abdominal pain and diarrhoea if it was term time or holidays, and both her and her mother were getting really concerned. Also, importantly, Katie was worried that all her friends seemed to be shooting up in height and that she was still wearing the same sized clothes as in primary school.
There are lots of reasons for abdominal pain in both adults and children, just as there are lots of reasons for diarrhoea and children developing at different speeds.
However, the combination of these symptoms made me wonder if something else could be going on. We did some blood tests which suggested that Katie had coeliac disease, and she was referred on to the paediatricians at the local hospital.
Coeliac disease affects around 1% of the UK population. It is an autoimmune condition, where the body’s immune system attacks itself when you eat gluten.
Gluten is found in wheat, as well as in barley and rye. This means that you can find gluten in any product made from these grains, including bread, pasta and cereal, but also in various sauces and other foods.
Symptoms of coeliac disease include abdominal pain, just like Katie described, as well as bloating and diarrhoea.
Young children may present with failure to thrive, as the condition means that your body may not be able to absorb the nutrients from the food you are eating.
Other symptoms include unintentional weight loss and fatigue as well as a particular type of rash.
Katie had a blood test which looked for antibodies which are generally (but not always) found in the blood if you have coeliac disease. She was then referred to the local hospital.
Katie’s mum asked me a common question at o
