Maddie battles hidden epidemic

RAISING AWARENESS: Springfield’s Katherine Harte with daughter Madelyn, 2, who has coeliac disease.

Sarah Harvey

IPSWICH mother Katherine Harte had heard about coeliac disease before, but never suspected it was the reason behind her young daughter’s illness.

About 18 months ago Mrs Harte’s daughter Madelyn, 2, suddenly became very sick – her stomach was bloated and easily upset, and she became lethargic.

The Springfield mother said she was “at her wit’s end” after the family’s GP could not pin-point the reason for her problems.

But thankfully, an unrelated visit to a paediatrician finally solved the problem.

The doctor called for a blood test to check for coeliac disease – an autoimmune disorder where gluten damages the lining of the small bowel – and the results came back positive.

“I had heard of people not being able to eat gluten before, but with Madelyn it didn’t cross my mind,” she said.

“When she was finally diagnosed as having coeliac disease, it was such a relief to find out what the problem was and how we could fix it. I just wish we knew sooner.”

With Madelyn now as energetic and lively as ever, Mrs Harte hopes to raise awareness of the disease for Coeliac Awareness Week, which runs from March 13 to 20.

“These days, she is a different child, she’s just so much more active and energetic than she used to be and so much happier in herself,” she said.

“Adjusting to a gluten-free diet hasn’t been much of a challenge, because she was so young.” Paediatric Gastroenterologist Associate Professor Don Cameron, an adviser to The Coeliac Society, said there was an urgent need to raise public awareness about coeliac disease in children.

“Coeliac disease affects at least one in 100 children in this country but four out of five are not diagnosed,” he said.