Coeliac disease

Eating foods that contain gluten can trigger a range of gut symptoms, such as:

• diarrhoea, which may smell particularly unpleasant
• stomach aches
• bloating and farting (flatulence)
• indigestion
• constipation

Coeliac disease can also cause more general symptoms, including:

• tiredness (fatigue) as a result of not getting enough nutrients from food (malnutrition)
• unintentional weight loss
• an itchy rash (dermatitis herpetiformis)
• problems getting pregnant (infertility)
• nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy)
• disorders that affect co-ordination, balance and speech (ataxia)

Children with coeliac disease may not grow at the expected rate and may have delayed puberty.

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition. This is where the immune system (the body's defence against infection) mistakenly attacks healthy tissue.

In coeliac disease, the immune system mistakes substances found inside gluten as a threat to the body and attacks them.

This damages the surface of the small bowel (intestines), disrupting the body's ability to take in nutrients from food.

It's not entirely clear what causes the immune system to act this way, but a combination of genetics and the environment appear to play a part.

There's no cure for coeliac disease, but following a gluten-free diet should help control symptoms and prevent the long-term complications of the condition.

Even if you have mild symptoms, changing your diet is still recommended because continuing to eat gluten can lead to serious complications. This may also be the case if tests show that you have some degree of coeliac disease even if you do not have noticeable symptoms.

It's important to ensure that your gluten-free diet is healthy and balanced.

An increase in the range of available gluten-free foods in recent years has made it possible to eat both a healthy and varied gluten-free diet.

Symptoms of coeliac disease include diarrhoea, stomach aches and bloating.

Coeliac disease is treated with a gluten-free diet.

Coeliac disease is caused by the immune system attacking and damaging your gut when you eat food containing gluten.