13 Yrs for Diagnosis
May 8, 2007
PEOPLE who are allergic to gluten suffer on average for 13 years before being diagnosed.
Researchers from Oxford University found patients visit doctors up to 28 times before coeliac disease is found.
Up to 600,000 have it, yet only one in 8 is identified. Coeliac UK called it Britain’s “most under-diagnosed, common chronic condition”.
Avoiding gluten – found in wheat, rye and barley – is the only relief. One in three sufferers experiences bad stomach pain, but researchers found this fell to just one in 20 after diagnosis via a blood test.
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