Description
Coeliac disease may present in many and varied ways. In elderly people, mild non-specific symptoms and minor haematological abnormalities may sometimes be discounted as part of normal variation, and more particularly so in the very elderly. Coeliac disease is being found more commonly in older patients in general, and occasionally presents in the ninth or tenth decade of life, although it is not clear whether this represents a true increase in its incidence or a greater awareness of its occurrence in old age. In this paper the epidemiology, varied modes of presentation, and methods of investigation in the elderly are discussed, and the need to consider and investigate appropriately for coeliac disease in the older elderly population is emphasised.
