Mark's Notebook

Heard the one about the vicar who was allergic to wafers?

Leeds Evening Post

By Vicki Robinson, Health Reporter

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, 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.

Since then Rev Barrett has cut all wheat, barley and rye from his diet, including the offending Communion wafers.

Factfile: Coeliac Disease

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.

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.

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.

Diagnosis is made by a blood test, followed by a visit to a gastroenterologist who will perform a biopsy of the small intestine lining.

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008