Thanks for the info! Could you possibly email me sometime? Id like to find out some more info from you if possible. My email address is viewable. Thanks
quote:
Originally posted by Lyddie:
At celiac.com, under FAQ's, "how is celiac diagnosed" you will find info on this as follows:1) first step, antibody tests: transglutaminase antibody test is not mentioned for some reason but is mentioned on other sites
-endomysial antibodies
-reticulin atibodies (IgA)
-gliadin antibodies (IgG and IgA)
If all 3 are positive, tentative diagnosis of celiac, if all 3 negative, then result is negative. Must be on gluten for a period of time for these tests to be accurate.
2) second diagnostic step is biopsy
3) 3rd step is going off gluten for 6 months, improvement again confirms possibility of celiac.
4) Biopsy to confirm healing of villi.
5) Some doctors do this, some say it is unnecessary: Go back on gluten for 6 months, then biopsy again. If damage recurs on gluten, then celiac is confirmed and you go off gluten for the rest of your life.
Many sufferers cannot even go back on gluten for the first step,let alone the 4th, because gluten causes them so much suffering. These folks opt to go off gluten w/out diagnosis, but never get an offical diagnosis. Many professionals warn it takes a lot of motivation to stay gluten-free for your life and that even small mistakes can cause adverse health effects (including cancer). So they recommend getting a diagnosis. But it is very difficult.
Genetic testing is also used. I forget but it might be HLA-DR2 is one of the two main types that ar eprone to celiac. You can also look this info up if you type in "celiac HLA types" on Google or Yahoo.
One word of warning: A person such as my daughter , who also has type 1 diabetes prone to celiac) and is clearly having improvement on gluten, probably does not have celiac. If we had not had the biopsy done and all the tests, she would spend the rest o fher life off gluten unecessarily. Doctors are telling us she will need to avoidit for a year or so, to help her "leaky "gut lining heal from yeast, but should be able to eat it in the future.
We hurried to have the tests done because she wanted to go off gluten for relief, and if she did that, there would be no way to test reliably without going back on gluten for 6+months, which seemed like a horrible idea.