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Heard the one about the vicar who was allergic to wafers?
Doctors finally get to the root of a mystery illness
EXCLUSIVE
By Vicki Robinson
Health Reporter
IT could be seen by some as a message from above – but it was one a priest in Leeds found hard to stomach.
Rev Clive Barrett was convinced he had cancer after years of ill health saw his weight plummet and left him unable to digest food.
Then tests finally showed the real root of the trouble ... he was allergic to his Communion wafers.
Rev Barrett was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, a digestive disorder which meant he was severely allergic to gluten – a key ingredient of the holy biscuits.
Rev Barrett, 51, said: "It's somewhat inconvenient because a key part of my job involves eating bread, which is full of gluten! But I'm just so relieved to have found out what was making me ill.
"It was a very anxious time and I genuinely believed I had cancer. All the tests were coming back negative, which was good in a way, but we still had no idea why I was so poorly.
"I was shocked when it was eventually discovered to be an allergy to gluten. I did not know it could affect a person quite so badly."
Rev Barrett, priest in charge of St Cross Church in Middleton, first became ill around 10 years ago, but it was several years until he went to his GP for help. By then his weight had dropped to less than 9st, extremely underweight for a man standing almost 6ft tall.
Doctors suspected colon cancer and Rev Barrett underwent a year of painful and invasive tests like endoscopies to try to find the cause of his digestive problems. Tests ruled out most illnesses, however, and medics could find no trace of a tumour.
After almost a year of examinations, in a last-ditch effort his GP ordered his blood to be screened for allergies – and his intolerance to gluten was immediately picked up.
Healthier
Since then Rev Barrett has cut all wheat, barley and rye from his diet, including the offending Communion wafers.
And he now has special gluten-free blessed biscuits – square-shaped instead of round – shipped to his church.
Rev Barrett said: "My weight has gone back up, I'm generally much healthier and my confidence has soared too.
"I can now do things, like go on holiday, which I wouldn't have been able to do before.
"Christians talk about being born again. Well for me, that was my diagnosis. Finding out what had been making me ill and being able to do something about it was my new start.
"There is one downside, though. After Communion I would get to finish up the unused wafers. Now someone else has to do that!"
vicki.robinson@ypn.co.uk
Factfile
Coeliac Disease
l Coeliac disease is a lifelong illness caused by a chronic intolerance to gluten. It can only be treated and the symptoms alleviated by sticking to a gluten-free diet for life.
l Around one in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease, which can make people seriously ill and even prove fatal, but only one in five has actually been diagnosed.
l Symptoms can include tiredness, anaemia, diarrhoea, abdominal discomfort, weight loss, vomiting, and mouth ulcers. Coeliac disease in children can result in stunted growth and impact on a child's overall development.
l Diagnosis is made by a blood test, followed by a visit to a gastroenterologist who will perform a biopsy of the small intestine lining.
l Charity Coeliac UK, is calling on the Government to help raise public awareness of the illness and to push it up the GP agenda to ensure people are diagnosed more quickly.
l Coeliac UK has launched an online petition to urge ministers to bring the disease higher up the NHS agenda. Visit www.coeliac.org.uk for more information and click on the 'Are you 1 in 100?' campaign section of the site.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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