Can damage done be repaired by gluten-free diet?

[Sabrine]

I’ve been reading the posts and trying to gather the information. Just diagnosed from one blood test so think I will ask for an endoscopy if that will show more information about state of my intestine. I hear about levels and I wonder can you reverse this damage and reduce these levels. I’ve been told I’m a weak positive with level nine. I’ve never felt ill apart from constipation for two years. I’ve also read that some people are very intolerant to gluten and others are only slightly. Cross contamination information is frightening it must be almost impossible to avoid and if it happens, does it mean you’re back to square one again ?  I’ve been sent a very good article so I’m reading through it but it is all quite daunting.

[Sabrine]

Sorry. Another quick question about the blood test. All I’ve been told on the phone is this “weak positive” comment and a level nine. She did say the word coeliac but as it was an incidental finding on blood tests for something else she was a dermatology nurse. Do the blood tests specifically diagnose coeliac or is it possible they’ve just picked up a gluten-free intolerance?

[RMJ]

Some blood tests are very specific for celiac disease.  Without more information on exactly what blood test was run it is difficult to say what yours could indicate.  I haven’t seen the terminology “level” used in describing celiac blood test results before. 

Were you seeing a dermatologist for a rash? Were they looking for dermatitis herpetiformis, which is caused by the same autoimmune antibodies as celiac disease?

Cross contamination with gluten can set someone with celiac disease back, but not all the way to square one.

It would probably be  good idea to see a gastroenterologist to follow up on your results.

[Scott Adams]

If you have celiac disease and go 100% gluten-free most damage can heal relatively quickly.

According to this study:

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After an average of 11 months on a gluten-free diet, 81% of patients with celiac disease and positive tissue transglutaminase IgA (tTG-IgA) at baseline will revert to negative tTG-IgA (SOR: C, disease-oriented evidence from retrospective cohort study). The intestinal mucosa of adult patients with celiac disease will return to normal after following a gluten-free diet for 16 to 24 months in only 8% to 18%. However, in children after 2 years, 74% will have a return to normal mucosa (SOR: C, diseaseoriented evidence from longitudinal studies).

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This study indicates that a majority of celiacs don't recover until 5 years after diagnosis and starting a gluten-free diet:

• Mucosal recovery and mortality in adults with celiac disease after treatment with a gluten-free diet

However, it's also possible that what the study really shows is the difficulty in maintaining a 100% gluten-free diet. I suspect that if you looked closely at the diets of those who did not recover within 2 years might be that their diets were not 100% gluten-free. Perhaps they ate out more often, or didn't understand all of the hidden ingredients where gluten can hide. Either way, it shows how difficult recovery from celiac disease can be for most people.

 

This article explores other causes of flattened villi: