A test for coeliac disease.

The relationship between wheat flour in the diet and the development of symptoms in children with coeliac disease observed by Dicke (1950) has been established. Subsequent investigations indicated that the injurious factor occurs principally in the gliadin ifraction (van de Kamer, Weijers and Dicke, 1953). Weijers and van de Kamer (1955) used gliadin in a method of testing wheat sensitivity hoping that the test would be helpful in the diagnosis of coeliac disease. In order to determine the value of this gliadin tolerance test, it was performed on a series of children with coeliac disease and on controls. The children with coeliac disease were patients of Dr. Wilfrid Sheldon and attended his clinic regularly. The diagnostic criteria used were those given by May (in Garrod, Batten and Thursfield, 1947). The diagnosis was confirmed by a favourable response to a diet free of wheat and rye gluten. The beneficial effect of the diet is manifested by an improvement in appetite and temperament, disappearance of steatorrhoea and an increase in growth. Growth is carefully followed by height and weight charts (Sheldon and Lawson, 1952).