Is The Blood Test Enough?

[cocoa smurf]

Hi guys, I'm from Australia and I have just been diagnosed with coeliac disease (it has an 'o' down here). I had a blood test and these were the results:

Gliadin IgA (EIA): this reading was greater than 100 units when the normal range is below 20

Transglutaminase IgA Ab: This reading was also greater than 100 AU/ml when the normal range is below 7.

I don't know if this means anything to any of you but my doctor said the readings were off the scale and has no question that I am coeliac.

According to the coeliac society back home, a true diagnosis cannot be determined without the biopsy of the bowel.

Does anyone know anything about this?

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I was diagnosed with only a blood test and it is enough. After my brother had his blood test, he then had the biopsy and both were positive. That only further confirms my results since this disease is genetic. If the blood test says you have Celiacs and the diet helps you, why have a biopsy? It would just be unneeded then. However, if you feel like you need more then have it done but you have to continue eating gluten up until you have the procedure.

[Matilda]

..

[KaitiUSA]

Your blood tests highly indiacte celiac. I was able to get an official diagnosis from blood tests alone. They are pretty accurate. Now, biopsies can rule celiac in but not out so in other words if you get a negative biopsy you can still have celiac...there may be no damage if you are in beginning stages or you may have sporadic damage that they missed. For that reason I did not get a biopsy done and they felt I didn't need one with the results I had. So if I were you I would go gluten free and then get the same tests in about 6 months to see if those levels went down. They measure compliancy to the diet through blood tests.

[Guest nini]

I was dx'ed by blood tests alone... My dr. said that since my results were so high there was no question and a biopsy can only confirm it anyway, it can never ever rule it out, so if your blood tests were positive, you have it. Keep in mind that everyone's healing time varies, there is a learning curve to learning the diet, but try to go 100% gluten-free as soon as possible and don't look back. The average healing time is 2 years, but there may be other health issues that don't go away on the diet. You can continue to pursue other diagnoses while on the diet, but Celiac is a definite for you...