The treatment for DH is a life-long gluten free diet. Although this is effective in the long-term, it can take an average of two years for it to take full effect, so drug treatment may also be recommended to begin with. The most commonly prescribed drug for DH is Dapsone. This will help control the itching and development of blisters, although the rash will come back if you stop taking it before the gluten free diet has taken effect.
For further information, please download our pdf on Dermatitis Herpetiformis.
As with coeliac disease, DH is also associated with an increased risk of other autoimmune diseases such as thyroid disease or Type 1 diabetes. The complications that occur in coeliac disease can also occur in DH: these include osteoporosis and certain types of small bowel cancer. Once you have been following the gluten free diet for some time, the risk of osteoporosis is reduced and the risk of cancer becomes the same as someone who doesn’t have coeliac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis.
This information is for guidance only and should not replace advice given by your medical professional
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Coeliac disease is treated by a life-long gluten free diet. By specifically removing the cause of the disease, this treatment allows all abnormalities to recover completely. As long as the diet is adhered to strictly, patients can recover.
An initial few weeks on both a gluten/lactose free diet will allow the bowel lining to replace its 'lactase' enzyme quantities, which digest lactose sugar prior to absorption. This may take longer for some individuals than others.
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Professor Andrew Day is an academic paediatric aastroenterologist based in Christchurch. After a period of training in Toronto, Canada, he took up a position at Sydney Children's Hospital, in Sydney, Australia. Returning to NZ in 2009, has a busy clinical role in Christchurch, and provides outreach Paediatric Gastroenterology services around the rest of the South […]
Adele is a registered NZ dietitian with over 24 years of advanced training and experience in various specialist areas of nutrition therapy (including gastroenterology, paediatrics, diabetes, bariatric surgery, disordered eating and oncology), mostly in the NHS, UK and the last four years in NZ. She is currently working as a specialist dietitian for Digestive Health […]
Jonathon completed undergraduate and postgraduate paediatric gastroenterology training in the UK before undertaking a six-month Fellow post in Starship Children’s Hospital in 2007. He returned to the UK to work as a consultant post in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow between 2008 and 2011 before the lure of the Southern hemisphere proved too […]