aNt's aNgle:
This is a topic that close to my heart. I can't eat wheat products because of gluten, the protein found in wheat. If I do, I have horrible diarrhoea that would last for weeks, if not properly treated.
My doctors thought initially that I had cancer of the gut. When it was proven negative, they just dumped me and didn't really bother why I was having frequent bouts of diarrhoea.
Then I was introduced to coeliac disease on the Internet. Checking it and following the instructions to stay away from wheat products, my tummy upsets ceased at once.
Here's a latest report on the BBC saying that doctors have now discovered three substances that causes the unpleasantness when you consume wheat products.
Whilst this is great news, a possible cure or more effective treatment unfortunately won't happen until a decade from now. Read on, fellow sufferers!
PET+BLOGSPOT
22 July 2010 Last updated at 00:25 GMT
'Toxic trio' triggers gut disease 
Foods like cake are off-limit to coeliacs The precise cause of the immune reaction that leads to coeliac disease has been discovered.
Three key substances in the gluten found in wheat, rye and barley trigger the digestive condition, UK and Australian researchers say.
This gives a potential new target for developing treatments and even a vaccine, they believe.
Coeliac disease is caused by an intolerance to gluten found in foods like bread, pasta and biscuits.
It is thought to affect around 1 in every 100 people in the UK, particularly women.
The link between gluten and coeliac disease was first established 60 years ago but scientists have struggled to pinpoint the precise component in gluten that triggers it.
The research, published in the journal, Science Translational Medicine, studied 200 patients with coeliac disease attending clinics in Oxford and Melbourne.
The volunteers were asked to eat bread, rye muffins or boiled barley. Six days later they had blood samples taken to measure their immune response to thousands of different gluten fragments, or peptides.
The tests identified 90 peptides that caused some level of immune reaction, but three were found to be particularly toxic.
Professor Bob Anderson, head of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, said: "These three components account for the majority of the immune response to gluten that is observed in people with coeliac disease."
Coeliac disease can be managed with a gluten-free diet but this is often a challenge for patients. Nearly half still have damage to their intestines five years after starting a gluten-free diet.
Professor Anderson said one potential new therapy is already being developed, using immunotherapy to expose people with coeliac disease to tiny amounts of the three toxic peptides.
Early results of the trial are expected in the next few months.
Sarah Sleet, Chief Executive of the charity Coeliac UK, said the new finding could potentially help lead to a vaccine against coeliac disease but far more research was needed.
She said: "It's an important piece of the jigsaw but a lot of further work remains so nobody should be expecting a practical solution in their surgery within the next 10 years."
The symptoms of coeliac disease vary from person to person and can range from very mild to severe.
Possible symptoms include diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, recurrent stomach pain, tiredness, headaches, weight loss and mouth ulcers.
Some symptoms may be mistaken as irritable bowel syndrome or wheat intolerance.
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Foods like cake are off-limit to coeliacs Three key substances in the gluten found in wheat, rye and barley trigger the digestive condition, UK and Australian researchers say.
This gives a potential new target for developing treatments and even a vaccine, they believe.
Coeliac disease is caused by an intolerance to gluten found in foods like bread, pasta and biscuits.
It is thought to affect around 1 in every 100 people in the UK, particularly women.
The link between gluten and coeliac disease was first established 60 years ago but scientists have struggled to pinpoint the precise component in gluten that triggers it.
The research, published in the journal, Science Translational Medicine, studied 200 patients with coeliac disease attending clinics in Oxford and Melbourne.
The volunteers were asked to eat bread, rye muffins or boiled barley. Six days later they had blood samples taken to measure their immune response to thousands of different gluten fragments, or peptides.
Continue reading the main story
Sarah Sleet Coeliac UK"It's an important piece of the jigsaw but a lot of further work remains so nobody should be expecting a practical solution in their surgery within the next 10 years."”
The tests identified 90 peptides that caused some level of immune reaction, but three were found to be particularly toxic.
Professor Bob Anderson, head of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, said: "These three components account for the majority of the immune response to gluten that is observed in people with coeliac disease."
Coeliac disease can be managed with a gluten-free diet but this is often a challenge for patients. Nearly half still have damage to their intestines five years after starting a gluten-free diet.
Professor Anderson said one potential new therapy is already being developed, using immunotherapy to expose people with coeliac disease to tiny amounts of the three toxic peptides.
Early results of the trial are expected in the next few months.
COELIAC DISEASE
Continue reading the main story- Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease
- Gluten found in wheat, barley and rye triggers an immune reaction in people with coeliac disease
- This damages the lining of the small intestine
- Other parts of the body may be affected
- Source: Coeliac UK
She said: "It's an important piece of the jigsaw but a lot of further work remains so nobody should be expecting a practical solution in their surgery within the next 10 years."
The symptoms of coeliac disease vary from person to person and can range from very mild to severe.
Possible symptoms include diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, recurrent stomach pain, tiredness, headaches, weight loss and mouth ulcers.
Some symptoms may be mistaken as irritable bowel syndrome or wheat intolerance.
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