Richelle Flanagan works as a clinical nutritionist at St James's Hospital where she sometimes has to tell people to give up life long eating habits
As a clinical nutritionist, I work in conjunction with other healthcare professionals and medical and nursing teams to provide a holistic treatment plan for our patients. I run clinics for people with coeliac disease and diabetes or endocrine disorders.
Coeliac disease is when your gut is irritated due to a reaction to foods containing gluten. This is found in foods that are made with wheat, rye, barley and oats. Research indicates that Irish people have a higher-than-average risk of having coeliac disease and it is thought that one out of 100 people have the disease.
Coeliac disease is under-diagnosed and the symptoms vary from recurrent tiredness and anaemia, to vague recurrent gastrointestinal complaints or bouts of diarrhoea.
The main treatment for coeliac disease is changing the diet to avoid sources of gluten. In my clinics I deal with newly diagnosed patients and review patients on an ongoing basis. If people don't manage their diet, symptoms can reappear and in some cases more severe complications may arise such as osteoporosis.
Many patients can be in shock and denial when they are diagnosed and often I am the first person to tell the patient their confirmed diagnosis. I do a detailed diet history to see what foods we need to swap such as ordinary bread for gluten-free bread. The Coeliac Society provides a coeliac book of gluten- free foods which is invaluable.
I also run a diabetes day care centre at St James's. The number of newly diagnosed people coming through our doors never ceases to amaze me.
The clinic is always under pressure to deal with the demand and is booked for months ahead.
In Ireland alone, there are approximately 200,000 people diagnosed with diabetes, and a probable further 100,000 who are unaware that they have the condition.
Even more frightening is the fact that by 2010, the incidence of diabetes in Ireland will have doubled.
I often feel like the big baddie in my job as I have to tell people about foods they have to give up or change, and breaking lifelong habits is not easy.
Sometimes people get upset in my clinic, either due to their new diagnosis or because food is a very emotive subject as it is intertwined in many of our feelings and actions.
We always need to keep up to date in our profession with continuous professional development and one area I am currently updating myself in is food allergy.
I am shocked often at the many people who have self-diagnosed or been told they have an allergy. There are so many pseudo-nutritionists out there telling people to give up certain foods when it is unnecessary and unfounded. I have signed up to do an allergy course in the University of Southampton so that I can better educate patients regarding allergies.
My job is very varied and extremely satisfying. Food is often under-estimated in how it can affect our bodies. I find it fascinating and rewarding to be able to educate people in how their health can benefit from good nutrition.