Long wait for celiac diagnosis

People with celiac disease are waiting an average of 13 years to be diagnosed, a poll has revealed. The gut disorder is caused by gluten intolerance. The charity Celiac UK says some of the 800 patients surveyed reported seeing their GP almost 30 times before being diagnosed. But it says the condition can be easily detected by GPs using a quick and simple blood test. People with celiac disease can experience a range of symptoms, including as bloating, diarrhea, chronic fatigue, breathlessness, depression and weight gain. Children with the condition can have behavioral, learning or concentration problems. The only treatment for the condition is a life-long gluten-free diet.

It also found patients often have to insist on being given the blood test, which is the first step to diagnosis. In addition, 29% of those polled said that prior to diagnosis, they experienced extreme pain, falling to 5% after diagnosis. Anxiety levels fell from 13% to 3%.

Norma Mc Gough, head of diet at Celiac UK, said the delays in diagnosis were a combination of patients not recognizing, or getting used to, their symptoms - or that doctors were not considering celiac disease as an explanation for what could be a vague range of symptoms. Celiac UK chief executive Sarah Sleet said: "Celiac disease is considered to be the most under-diagnosed common chronic condition in the UK today. "One in 100 are believed to be at risk from the condition, but the latest research suggests only one in eight, or 12.5%, of these have been diagnosed.

"There is no reason why people should not be diagnosed more quickly, and avoid years of debilitating pain and ill-health." Professor Mayur Lakhani, head of the Royal College of GPs said: "I am sorry to hear of the experience of some patients in this report who have had a late diagnosis. "Awareness of coeliac disease is increasing but doctors do find it a difficult condition to consider for diagnosis as its symptoms are also mimicked by many other common disorders. "However, more needs to be done and can be done. I would urge all doctors to be more vigilant about this condition and to request the simple blood test which can clinch an early diagnosis."

Bonnie - I am not surprised by these statistics. I am sure they are worse in the US. The current medical model does not cater to diet-related disease discovery. When the educational paradigm for doctors incorporates a "whole health" philosophy, then patients won't have to wait thirteen years for a celiac diagnosis.