Today marks the start of Coeliac Awareness Week - and the launch of a new online assessment to help speed up diagnosis of the illness.
It's estimated that 40,000 people in Scotland have Coeliac Disease and don't know it.
And 40 percent of Britons confess they don’t know how to cook for people who are vegetarian, 57% are clueless about catering for someone with a nut allergy and 80% wouldn’t know where to start when preparing food for someone with coeliac disease.
The illness results in an adverse reaction to gluten.
You can access the onnline assessment at www.isitcoeliacdisease.org.uk
Sarah Sleet, chief executive of Coeliac UK, said:
“We must take radical action to turn around this horrendous situation. We hope that giving people direct access to an online assessment tool will put those who are suffering with the symptoms of undiagnosed coeliac disease on a pathway to diagnosis and avoid potentially life threatening long term health complications. As well as help reduce the unacceptable length of time to gain a diagnosis which is currently, on average, 13 years.
"Awareness of coeliac disease has increased greatly in recent years with the Charity’s Helpline supporting hundreds of callers seeking a diagnosis.
"Yet, across Scotland and the UK too many people are still suffering unnecessarily. Please check your symptoms through our online assessment tool, and if you think you may have coeliac disease, seek further medical advice from your GP.”
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