Coeliac Society: 500,000 people in Ireland undiagnosed with gluten intolerance

Coeliac figures are on the rise across the world and qualified nutritionist and dietitian Sarah Keogh says "it has nothing to do with more gluten in bread". File picture

Approximately 500,000 people are undiagnosed with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance in Ireland, according to the Coeliac Society of Ireland.

Of those, around 63,000 are estimated to be undiagnosed coeliacs. And those figures are on the rise across the world with little reason as to why this is the case.

Qualified nutritionist and dietitian Sarah Keogh says: “Gluten intolerance has only quite recently been identified as a separate condition, so research is still quite early with that. From a coeliac point of view. we actually just don’t know why it’s going up now, to be honest.

"It has nothing to do with more gluten in bread or anything like that, which is a thing I hear all the time. There’s actually no more gluten in bread today than there would have been 100 years ago.” 

Coeliac disease is an auto-immune disease where the affected individual reacts abnormally when gluten is ingested, leading to the inflammation of the intestine and resulting in poor absorption of essential nutrients.

Ahead of the Coeliac Society of Ireland's Awareness Week, which begins on May 15, the society is encouraging people to get tested for the disease, which is often overlooked by many as a serious health issue.

Coeliac disease is often linked to genetics, and so it is vital to get tested if one of your parents suffers from the disease, with family members having a one-in-10 chance of being coeliac if it runs in the family.

Ms Keogh stresses the importance of going for a test if one suspects they may be coeliac or gluten intolerant, revealing that the health implications are a lot more serious than people realise. "You see more and more bowel cancer in undiagnosed coeliacs," she explained.

Additionally, Ms Keogh says the disease, if left untreated, can lead to infertility, increased risk of miscarriage, increased risk of still-birth, osteoporosis, fatigue, nerve damage, and much more.

“You can have loss of co-ordination, loss of balance, severe migraines, pins and needles, brain fog, and some of the co-ordination issue can actually be permanent if it's not caught early enough.” 

She advised people to watch out for symptoms like bloating. Ms Keogh also stresses the importance of continuing to eat gluten for at least six weeks before getting tested for coeliac disease as the test will come back negative if you have stopped eating it, regardless of whether you have the disease or not.