Brain fog could be ‘hidden’ warning sign of disease that affects thousands of Brits

While coeliac disease is commonly linked to digestive issues such as diarrhoea, bloating and being sick, medical expert James Le Fanu points out a range of ‘secret’ symptoms that are often overlooked.

Le Fanu notes that the condition can result in unexpected signs like clumsiness, loss of balance, slurred speech, ‘brain fog’, along with tingling hands and legs.

In an article for The Telegraph, he recounts the experience of a woman from Cornwall whose coordination problems at first led doctors to believe she was showing “strongly suggestive” signs of multiple sclerosis. Yet, her other health complaints hinted towards coeliac disease.

This Cornish woman had endured chronic diarrhoea for some time and decided to try a gluten-free diet in search of answers; the results were astonishing.

With the switch to gluten-free eating, not only was her diarrhoea resolved, but also her ‘multiple sclerosis’ symptoms vanished. She said: “I felt like a human being again,” adding about bread, “Bread may be the staff of life for most people, but for me it was anything but,” reports Surrey Live.

Le Fanu warns: “Late-onset coeliac disease is much more common than you might think.”

He explained: “Gluten intolerance in the older age group usually manifests itself in a subtler form, where the inflammation of the lining of the gut prevents the absorption of one or more micronutrients – iron, calcium, vitamin D, magnesium – which are essential, respectively, for the production of red blood cells, maintaining bone strength, and nerve and muscle function.”

In the UK, it’s believed that about one in 100 people suffer from coeliac disease, yet only 36% have been diagnosed. The condition can strike at any age but is most often identified in individuals between 40 and 60 years old.

“The symptoms of late onset coeliac disease tend to be ‘non-specific’,” Le Fanu notes, with signs including a general sense of fatigue, weakening muscles, and bone thinning that may result in frequent fractures.

Fortunately, Le Fanu points out that if these symptoms are due to coeliac disease, it can be easily detected with a simple blood test and effectively treated by switching to a gluten-free diet.