Should I Test The Siblings For Celiac?

[pryforma]

My daughter was diagnosed with celiac (biopsy/blood) her gi doctor asked if I wanted to test her siblings since there is a higher chance for celiac actually he said all of us.

 

He said we could do a blood test , he wouldn't even do a biopsy since my kid has celiac and if  the blood it's positive, for him  that would be enough to diagnoses with celiac if any of the siblings test positive.

 

Not sure if I should even bother get them tested ...what do you think?

 

If I do get them tested it should be soon  we cut a lot of  gluten of their diet because of my daughter.

 

 

Thanks!

[shadowicewolf]

Yes, celiac is genetic. All first degree relatives should be tested.

[solitaire-master]

Yes.....

[nvsmom]

Yes!  there is a chance they have silent celiac - without any symptoms (yet) or they could have symptoms that you haven't recognized as being caused by celiac (like headaches, short stature, ADHD, etc).

 

Yep, get them tested, and RETEST every few years because celiac can become active at any age if they are eating gluten... that is if you don't make all children gluten-free.

 

Best wishes.

[bartfull]

And try to get them to eat "gluten heavy" again until testing is done.

[tarnalberry]

Yes.

Why wouldn't you want to know?

[EmiPark210]

Definitely. I'm sure your GI explained all the reasons why the gluten-free diet must be adhered to. As others have said, your other children could not be displaying symptoms yet and also have a high chance of developing it later because it is genetically linked. Before you cut out all gluten, you and the children's other biological parent should also get tested... the genes have to come from somewhere. This extrapolates to all first degree relatives, ie. if you test positive, you should encourage your siblings to also get tested, and if they're positive then all their first degree relatives should be tested. 

[pryforma]

Thanks everybody the only reason I am not sure about is because her siblings are much younger than her so I am not sure if they will show positive in the blood test.

[EmiPark210]

Thanks everybody the only reason I am not sure about is because her siblings are much younger than her so I am not sure if they will show positive in the blood test.

 

 

As nvsmom said, you might have to get them tested every couple years because it does just kind of "turn on" one day. Though from everything I've seen and other people's stories, a stressful event or body trauma are common "triggers" so especially test after large life transitions. My IBS kicked on when I entered high school and I think Celiac turned on as I was applying to scholarships and preparing for college. So around stressful times, keep an eye out for possible signs of symptoms that the genes turned on. Of course there is a chance that your other kids could be within the portion of the population the carries the genes and never develops celiac, but it's so much better to be proactive about these types of things, especially with little ones.