Brain fog could be 'hidden' symptom of disease that affects 670,000 people
While coeliac disease is generally associated with digestive problems such as diarrhoea, bloating, and vomiting, there are a myriad of “secret” symptoms that many victims may not recognise, says medical expert James Le Fanu.
He explains that coeliac disease can be the cause of clumsiness, loss of balance and slurred speech, as well as “brain fog” and a numbness and tingling of hands and legs.
Writing in the Telegraph, he describes the case of a woman from Cornwall who, in her early sixties, began experiencing problems with co-ordination which. Experts initially suspected they were "strongly suggestive" of multiple sclerosis. But other symptoms that she was suffering pointed to the true problem.
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The unfortunate Cornish woman had also for some time experienced chronic diarrhoea, and in an effort to identify the cause she put herself on a gluten-free diet. The effect was remarkable.
Not only did the gluten-free diet clear up her diarrhoea, but her “multiple sclerosis” symptoms disappeared as well. "I felt like a human being again," she said.. "Bread may be the staff of life for most people, but for me it was anything but."
James Le Fanu said: "Late-onset coeliac disease is much more common than you might think."
But, he adds: “Gluten intolerance in the older age group usually manifests itself in a subtler form, where the inflammation of the lining of the gut prevents the absorption of one or more micronutrients - iron, calcium, vitamin D, magnesium - which are essential, respectively, for the production of red blood cells, maintaining bone strength, and nerve and muscle function.”
In the UK, it's estimated that roughly one in 100 people – roughly 670,000 people – have coeliac disease, but only 36% are diagnosed. It can affect people at any age, but it’s most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 40 and 60.
“The symptoms of late onset coeliac disease tend to be ‘non-specific'," Le Fanu says, including a general feeling of tiredness and weakening muscles as well as thinning of the bones that can lead to frequent fractures.
The good news, Le Fanu says, is that if these symptoms are the result of coeliac disease, the condition can be readily identified with a diagnostic blood test, and quickly cleared up by adopting a gluten-free diet.