Around one in ten people worldwide report gastrointestinal and other symptoms such as fatigue and headache after eating foods containing gluten or wheat despite not having a diagnosis of either coeliac disease or wheat allergy, finds a large systematic review and meta-analysis published online in Gut .

These people have a condition known as non-coeliac gluten/wheat sensitivity (NCGWS), which appears to be more common in women and associated with irritable bowel syndrome , anxiety and depression .

Symptoms of NCGWS tend to improve when gluten or wheat is avoided and recur when foods containing them are returned to the diet. However, in contrast to coeliac disease and wheat allergy, the disease process underpinning NCGWS is unclear and it has no specific associated blood mark

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