11.   The mode of presentation, laboratory findings, and compliance and response to a gluten free diet were assessed.

12.   Compliance and response to a gluten free diet were assessed at each visit by careful questioning.

13.   The diagnosis of coeliac disease was based on the finding of a flat small intestinal mucosa or clinical response to a gluten free diet, or both.

14.   A second patient, who presented with anaemia, lived alone and in poor social circumstances and could not manage a gluten free diet.

15.   In this series one patient suffered a bowel perforation as a result of an endoscopic biopsy that was done to check response to the gluten free diet.

16.   Apart from rendering patients asymptomatic, earlier treatment with a gluten free diet might also protect them from developing malignant complications in old age.

17.   Non-immunised mice on a gluten free diet served as controls.

18.   The development of the gluten free diet was based on these discoveries.

19.   This result was not unexpected, given the relatively short period these patients had been following the gluten free diet before entering the protocol.