Katerina Ingham

Project: "Is There a Role for Serologically Screening Adult Patients with Type One Diabetes Mellitus for Coeliac Disease?"

Medical Student Essay Prize Winner 2025

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Ms Ingham summarises:

“My project focused on whether adult patients with type one diabetes should be screened for coeliac disease. 

Coeliac disease and type one diabetes are both chronic autoimmune conditions with life-changing impacts, particularly on diet. The only treatment for coeliac disease is a gluten-free diet, and type one diabetes is treated using insulin therapy and blood glucose monitoring.

Previous studies have demonstrated a link between coeliac disease and type one diabetes. However, there is limited research on adult patients with type one diabetes for coeliac disease. Therefore, we proposed the research question of whether adult patients with type one diabetes should be screened for coeliac disease.

We conducted an observational cohort study using databases of patients with type one diabetes and coeliac disease. Eighty-eight patients met all the criteria for the study group, and we compared them to age and sex-matched controls.

Our findings answered our original question of whether adult patients with with type one diabetes should be tested for coeliac disease. We demonstrated that coeliac disease is an important health problem for diabetes patients, and it can be managed with a gluten free diet without affecting blood sugar management. We also showed that coeliac disease symptoms can take some time to develop, indicating that early screening and diagnosis could allow diabetes patients to adopt a gluten free diet and reduce the risk of serious health complications. Although the small sample sizes in our study means that larger scale studies would be beneficial.”

What did it feel like to win this award?

Guts UK Brand Characters of a pink gut including the oesophagus, stomach and bowel looking shocked.

Winning the Dr.Falk Guts UK award is a real honour that I am so grateful for. I feel proud that my hard work during my BSc to conduct research on such an important topic has allowed me further opportunities and being rewarded in this way for my essay is a fantastic feeling. The award will hugely enhance my portfolio and give me something extra to speak about at interviews for future training posts. The financial aspect will really support me in my final year of medical school.

Read more about Ms Ingham’s project, focused on the gut by downloading the PDF below.

Download the pdf version PDF, 1.6MB

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