The emerging field of metabonomics offers a new way to understand celiac disease.

Dr. Anderson’s team has created a peptide-based therapeutic vaccine to treat the main problem T-cell epitopes of gluten. The vaccine has the potential to treat at about 80% of people with celiac disease and having the appropriate genetic background.

When people tell me their story of diagnosis, I always think it's incredible. Sometimes the mystery seems to be more difficult and have fewer "clues" than others. As a result, the missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis takes a toll on our bodies. These stories of diagnosis run the gambit of drama and difficulty, but they are good to share so we can empathize and learn from as a celiac community.

Doctors treating people with celiac disease might soon be able to use a simple saliva test to monitor the progress of their patients’ gluten-free diets.

A research team recently set out to compare multiplex immunoassay (MIA) testing for antibodies against enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) testing for antibodies in biopsy-proven celiac patients and control subjects, and to determine the helpfulness of using the two tests in combination for making diagnosis of celiac disease.

Mucosal inflammation of the small intestine, coupled with damage to intestinal villi, is a classic indication of celiac disease. Recently, doctors have begun to embrace the idea that some patients with positive celiac blood tests may have mucosal lesions that are too small to appear on routine histopathological analysis.

Among the main things doctors look for when they’re trying to make a classic diagnosis of celiac disease are small intestinal mucosal membrane villous atrophy and inflammation. However, the latest research indicates that these criteria are possibly too narrow, leading to a lack of diagnosis and treatment of people with celiac disease. If so, far more people than previously imagined may suffer from celiac disease and not even know it.

ActoGeniX is a recently formed Belgian company specializing in the development and use of genetically altered probiotic Lactococcus lactis bacteria designed to secrete and deliver therapeutic peptides and proteins to treat gastrointestinal disorders. Their product is called ActoBiotics™. Celiac disease is among the disorders ActoGeniX is currently investigating. Research has already shown efficacy in a celiac disease model where ActoBiotics™ continuously secrete small segments of gluten peptides to induce tolerance to gluten. Further research and trials are in the pipeline.

A greater awareness of celiac disease, coupled with better and more accurate tests for celiac disease have helped to bring about a situation where most people currently diagnosed with celiac disease show no symptoms at the time of their diagnosis. Currently, most people diagnosed with celiac disease do not show symptoms, but are diagnosed on the basis of referral for elevated risk factors.

This question, “how early can you diagnose celiac disease?” is a major concern for both parents and paediatricians.  This is because, like many diseases, celiac disease comes on slowly.  This means that it can take a long time to make the diagnosis.