Samuel Gee

[1] In 1888, Gee published the first complete modern description of the clinical picture of coeliac disease, and theorised on the importance of diet in its control.

Gee gave the first modern-day description of coeliac disease in a lecture at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street in 1887.

His interest in the history of medicine, and ability to read ancient Greek, meant Gee was familiar with the work of Aretaeus of Cappadocia who first wrote of "The Cœliac Affection".

[4] Gee's account is published in the St. Bartholomew's Hospital Reports of 1888 and begins: There is a kind of chronic indigestion which is met with in persons of all ages, yet is especially apt to affect children between one a five years old.

Gee recognises that milk intolerance is a problem with coeliac children and that highly starched foods should be avoided.

[5] The cause of coeliac disease was eventually discovered to be an autoimmune reaction to gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat, plus Secalin in rye and Hordien in barley.

The rice, sago, fruit and vegetables that were forbidden by Gee would all have been quite safe to eat; the toasted bread he recommended, however, would not.