A break in gluten war
A MELBOURNE-made food supplement could protect millions of people at risk from eating gluten-laden foods.
Added to foods such as bread and pasta, the concoction of two enzymes could protect coeliac disease sufferers from bowel damage and a fourfold increased risk of osteoporosis and cancer.
About one in 100 Australians suffer coeliac disease, forcing them to avoid all foods containing ingredients such as wheat, oats, barley and commercial thickeners, which damage their small intestine and make it hard for them to absorb nutrients.
While the supplement ALV003 being trialled would not put the foods back on the menu for coeliac sufferers, it could help when they accidentally ate gluten, the Alfred hospital's chief investigator Dr Gregor Brown said.
"I don't think the enzyme will be strong enough to overcome a large dose of gluten," he said.
"We see it really as an adjunct to a gluten-free diet because even those on a good gluten-free diet have small amounts sneak through.
"There are so many foods and they are constantly bombarded by them so it is very, very hard."
Researchers at the Alfred, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and the Burnett Institute believe the supplement will degrade gluten, making it less toxic for coeliac sufferers.
Trials with 20 Melbourne coeliac patients have shown that those mixing the supplement with gluten-rich foods for three days suffered no ill-effects.
Coeliac Society executive officer Jane Davies hopes the latest breakthrough can ease her stress and strict diet.
"It can be very overwhelming because it is a complete change of diet. We can't have bread, pasta, cakes and biscuits, and all those things we normally enjoy, or even a good old meat pie at the football," Ms Davies said.
"When you go out your choices are much more limited and expensive because the market is much more limited.
"Anything to help our lifestyle is a great improvement."
Source: heraldsun.com.au