HAMPSHIRE Hospitals are telling Wintonians to go with their gut feeling.
The Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) staff are taking the message of coeliac disease to the streets of Winchester.
The disease is an autoimmune condition in which gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye, triggers a reaction.
As part of Gut Feeling, the national Coeliac Awareness Week, nurses and dieticians will be joined by patient support group members at the Brooks Centre, from 10am to 2pm on Wednesday, May 15.
They will explain the symptoms and treatments available, offering advice on what to do if you think you may have the illness.
In those with the condition, gluten can damage the small intestine with symptoms including diarrhoea, bloating, tiredness and headaches.
But diagnosis is often difficult as symptoms are variable and many patients have none at all.
About 1 per cent of the population is affected by coeliac disease but only one in eight of those affected will be diagnosed.
There are currently 370 patients registered with the disease in Winchester.
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