Who gets coeliac disease?
Most prevalent in Western Europe and USA esp patients of Irish and Scandinavian descent
Increasing incidence in Africa and Asia though numbers underestimated
Symptoms of coeliac disease may be attributed to infections
A lot of patients in the community have undiagnosed coeliac disease - requires high index of suspicion
High prevalence in patients with Down's, Type I diabetes, auto-immune hepatitis and thyroid gland abnormalities
Bimodal presentation in childhood and late thirties
Approx. 20% patients with coeliac disease older than 60