It is estimated that nearly 9,000 people living in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area are suffering from the symptoms of coeliac disease without even realising it, and posing a danger to their long term health.

Coeliac (pronounced see-liac) disease is not an allergy or intolerance but a serious autoimmune disease caused by a reaction to gluten – a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. When someone with the condition eats gluten, the body attacks and damages the lining of the gut where food is absorbed, making it difficult for the body to get the nutrients it needs. Gluten is found in many every day foods such as bread, pasta, cereals, cakes, and biscuits.

This is why Coeliac UK, the national charity for coeliac disease, will today and every day this week be taking our awareness campaign Is It Coeliac Disease? direct to the people of Glasgow. Our information stand will be at the top end of Buchanan Street where experts and volunteers will be handing out leaflets, discussing symptoms and providing advice on how to get diagnosed. Testing for coeliac disease will also be available, for those found to be particularly at risk. Help and advice on living gluten-free will be on hand too, including the opportunity to talk to people from the local support group who have been diagnosed and are on a gluten-free diet.

Our campaign is critical in reaching out to those who need our help the most. Research shows that 1 in 100 of the UK population has coeliac disease yet only around a quarter have a diagnosis, leaving half a million without. For Scotland, this means more than 52,000 people have the condition with around 40,000 living without a diagnosis, and suffering symptoms. The average time to diagnosis is currently 13 years from when symptoms first start to appear, and our campaign aims to reduce this significantly so that people do not suffer the long-term health consequences of coeliac disease.

Symptoms include stomach pains, regular bouts of diarrhoea, fatigue, constant mouth ulcers, nausea, vomiting and anaemia and, in some children, a failure to thrive. With anaemia, research indicates that iron deficiency is found in some 30-50% of patients when diagnosed with coeliac disease. These symptoms can affect people in different ways, making it difficult for them to pinpoint the cause and seek diagnosis. Left untreated, coeliac disease can lead to serious health problems such as osteoporosis, unexplained infertility and, in rare cases, small bowel cancer.

The only treatment for coeliac disease is a strict gluten-free diet for life but the good news is once diagnosed and on the diet, people feel much better and their symptoms abate.

Our campaign is focused on making people aware of the symptoms and offering an online assessment to check whether they require further testing for coeliac disease. This can be found at our campaign website www.isitcoeliacdisease.org.uk which also provides information about coeliac disease and its symptoms. After completing the assessment, users receive a result which can be printed out and taken to their GP if a need for further investigation is recommended. We are delighted that since the campaign began 12 months ago, 37,000 people have completed an assessment including over 3000 in Scotland.

Our campaign is also aimed at the medical profession so that those troubled by symptoms of coeliac disease can get the quick and accurate diagnosis they need. GPs can also find the symptoms of coeliac disease vague and challenging and this can lead to delays in diagnosis. For example, it is estimated that 1 in 4 people with coeliac disease had previously been misdiagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The good news is that clinical guidelines for IBS now state that individuals should be screened for coeliac disease before a diagnosis of IBS is made.

Coeliac disease can be a difficult condition to diagnose, with a wide range of symptoms that if left untreated, can lead to serious health problems. We have been spreading our message by taking to the streets of London, Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff and now Glasgow to reach out to the estimated half a million people in need of a diagnosis to get them on the road to a gluten-free diet, to ease their ill health and improve their lives.

Visit us in Buchanan Street this week in person or visit us online at our campaign website www.isitcoeliacdisease.org.uk

Myles Fitt, Scotland Lead, Coeliac UK