Hospital offers advice to help mark Coeliac UK Awareness Week

AN information stall dedicated to coeliac disease is being hosted by the Lymington New Forest Hospital tomorrow (Tuesday) during the condition's awareness week.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust will have a stand at the main reception offering advice about the disease, its symptoms and diagnosis, along with the chance to try some gluten-free snacks.

Often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome, the common digestive condition is caused by an immune response to gluten, a dietary protein found in three types of cereal, wheat, barley and rye.

Specialist gastrointestinal nurse Shirley James will be hosting the stand from 9am to 1.30pm tomorrow (Tuesday) with the Wessex Coeliac Group.

She said: “This disease affects one in 100 people in the UK and it is estimated that only 24% of these people are diagnosed, which means that over three-quarters of sufferers are unaware that they have it.”

This year's awareness week, from 13th–19th May, is focused on the condition's diagnosis and is encouraging more people to ask themselves: "Is it coeliac disease?"