Live Well Gluten Free

THE LATEST www.coeliac.org.uk | 9 Will coeliac disease always be treated with a gluten free diet? Current treatments under development include drugs that could break down the toxic fragments of gluten before it reaches the intestine, prevent immune cells from responding to gluten and establish immune tolerance to gluten. Clinical trials help researchers test the safety and effectiveness of new treatments and compare them with current ones. For new treatments to be approved and licensed for medical use, they must go through a series of clinical trials, which can take as long as 10–15 years. For more information about clinical trials, please visit www.coeliac.org.uk/CT How do clinical trials work? Clinical trials rely on the participation of volunteers. In early stages of drug development volunteers with no health conditions are often recruited. The later phases need people with the condition the drug aims to treat. Clinical trials exploring new treatments for coeliac disease will most likely involve eating gluten for a short period of time to cause an Tell us your views With the number of potential treatments for coeliac disease rising, we want to hear your views! Our survey gives you the chance to tell us what you think future treatments for coeliac disease should achieve, as well as your thoughts on participating in a clinical trial. These insights will be used to support our work with researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Thanks to everyone who has already completed the survey – if you haven’t yet, there’s still time! Go to www.coeliac.org.uk/treatments immune response. This will allow researchers to find out how effective new treatments are at reducing symptoms and damage to the small intestine. Interested in getting involved? We post opportunities to participate in research, including clinical trials, at www.coeliac.org.uk/recruitingforresearch Around 90% of new treatments are unsuccessful at some point in development and aren’t approved. Therefore, the more treatments that are in the pipeline, the more likely there will be a successful new treatment. In 2010, there were just five treatments in development for people with coeliac disease. Today the number in development is more than five times that. We all know that a strict, lifelong gluten free diet is the only treatment for coeliac disease. But that could all change in the future thanks to the power of research. Knowledge and understanding we’ve built is allowing the exploration of different, non dietary treatments. These could be used alongside or maybe even replace the gluten free diet one day