Is It Coeliac? Campaign Comes To Glasgow

Coeliac UK, the national Charity for people with coeliac disease, hopes to reach people living with undiagnosed coeliac disease in the Glasgow area with its weeklong pop up event taking place in Scotland for the first time.

One in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease, but the autoimmune condition is greatly undiagnosed, meaning there are around half a million people in the UK who are currently without a diagnosis. There are 1,196,335 people covered by the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board, which means that approximately 11,963 people from this region will have coeliac disease. Out of this group, only an estimated 3230, or 27% of them will be diagnosed, leaving an estimated 8700 local people currently undiagnosed and potentially experiencing ill health from symptoms and storing up long term health problems for the future.

Coeliac UK’s campaign ‘Is it coeliac disease?’ will be sharply focused on exposing the link between anaemia and undiagnosed coeliac disease as well as other symptoms, as the charity hunts for the missing half a million people with undiagnosed coeliac disease across the UK, including nearly 40,000 in Scotland.

Glasgow will host Coeliac UK’s first pop up event to take place in Scotland as the charity brings its campaign roadshow to cities across the UK in a bid to increase diagnosis rates. Coeliac disease is not an allergy or intolerance but a serious autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system damages the lining of the small bowel when gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, is eaten. There is no cure and no medication; the only treatment is a strict gluten-free diet for life. Left untreated, coeliac disease can lead to a number of complications including osteoporosis and, in rare cases, even small bowel cancer.

Experts and local volunteers from the charity will be on hand to discuss symptoms and provide advice on how to get diagnosed.

The volunteers on hand will share their own experiences of the disease. People like 34 year old Zilai Beg, (pictured), from Newlands who was diagnosed after her symptoms became so severe that she could not walk.

She said: "I was taken ill in Jan 2014 after eating garlic bread from a restaurant and the doctor diagnosed it as a stomach bug.” It took a further four months and hospital admissions for her condition to be finally diagnosed. “After my third admittance into hospital, when the joint inflammation had got so bad that I could not walk, I was put on medication for the inflammation and given steroids. I was then advised to try gluten free and eventually in April 2014 I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease.”

Testing for coeliac disease will be available at the pop event, for those found to be particularly at risk. Help and advice on living gluten-free will also be available, including the opportunity to talk to people from the local support group who have been diagnosed and are on a gluten-free diet.

The campaign launched by actress and Coeliac UK’s Patron, Caroline Quentin last year highlights some of the most common symptoms of coeliac disease, which is caused by a reaction to gluten, and prompts people experiencing symptoms to ask themselves, “is it coeliac disease?”

The Coeliac UK pop up event will be situated in the heart of Glasgow on Buchanan Street, at the top of Buchanan Street, next to the statue of Donald Dewar from Monday 6 to Friday 10 June

Sarah Sleet, chief executive of Coeliac UK, said: “It’s horrendous that so many people are still undiagnosed which is why we are actively going out into communities like Glasgow to bring more attention to the condition. Anyone in the city or surrounding area who thinks they might be suffering with symptoms should come to our stand to find out more about the condition. We want to help put them on a pathway to diagnosis and avoid potentially life threatening long term health complications. Or you can check your symptoms through our online assessment tool, and if you think you may have coeliac disease, go to your doctor and ask for a blood test but don’t stop eating gluten until you are tested otherwise critical  tests will not work.”