Citation
(2010), "Dr Chris Steele", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 40 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2010.01740cab.008
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Dr Chris Steele
Article Type: Food facts From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 40, Issue 3.
Dr Chris Steele MBE announced recently on ITV's This Morning where he is the show's resident doctor, that he has been diagnosed with coeliac disease. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease caused by intolerance to gluten. Damage is caused to the gut lining when gluten is eaten. There is no cure or medication for the condition and the only treatment is life-long adherence to a strict gluten-free diet. Without a gluten-free diet, the disease can lead to other conditions, such as malnutrition, osteoporosis, infertility, multiple miscarriages and can cause bowel cancer. Ironically, Dr Chris has been an ambassador of Coeliac UK, the national charity for people with coeliac disease for the past three years. However, over the past few months he has been suffering with abdominal symptoms and his own GP referred him to a gastroenterologist.
At least one in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease. However, only 12.5 per cent of those have currently been diagnosed and Coeliac UK estimates that there are over half a million people undiagnosed in the UK. The symptoms of coeliac disease range from being mild to severe and can vary between individuals. Symptoms include bloating, abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, wind, tiredness, anaemia, headaches, mouth ulcers, weight loss – but not in all cases, skin problems, depression, joint or bone pain and nerve problems.