Gi In Ontario, Canada

[sore joints]

Good morning!

Does anyone know of any GIs in Ontario that support Enterolab test results? I'm waiting to get in to one and the wait is a year and I'm worried that after such I long wait I'm just going to find out that the doctor doesn't believe in a positive test result from Enterolab. Any experience with this?

[jesscarmel]

Good morning!

Does anyone know of any GIs in Ontario that support Enterolab test results? I'm waiting to get in to one and the wait is a year and I'm worried that after such I long wait I'm just going to find out that the doctor doesn't believe in a positive test result from Enterolab. Any experience with this?

im not sure about the enterolab piece but my dad recently went to gi for celiac who he really liked....maybe you alrady have one but you are specifically looking for one who will validate the enterolab. i believe the dr is in toronto.

JEss

[celiacgirls]

You could try asking Enterolab if there is a doctor in the area who uses them. That is how I found my GI here.

[lorka150]

hey sore joints,

where are you from? i am not sure if he supports enterolab, but my GI is excellent, and i never have had to wait long for an appointment. everyone loves him. my internist is also a gem.

another option would be to try to get in at mcmaster. they have an abundance of great doctors there.

[Suzie-GFfamily]

A year seems like a really long wait to get in to see a specialist. I can understand your concerns. I wonder if there is any way to get in earlier??

I was considering the Enterolab route for my family back in the spring, especially for my children because their wait time to see a specialist was longer than mine. The Enterolab tests would have been quick and non-invasive- both good reasons to consider that route.

I attended the celiac assoc meeting in Mississauga in May. One session was a question & answer session- they asked people to submit their questions in writing on Sat and the professional advisory board (PAB) answered them in the Q&A session on Sun. I asked what their opinion was regarding the fecal stool testing preformed by Enterolab. The professional advisory board of the Canadian Celiac Assoc advised caution when using test labs on the internet. They didn't say much specifically about Enterolab, only that some people in the Ottawa area had run into trouble relying on the Enterolab results. Again, no specifics about what the problems were. They certainly did not endorse Enterolab.

This position is probably not very surprising because the only research in peer-reviewed medical journals related to fecal fat testing using a single stool sample (ie the quantitative fecal fat microscopy testing) has been done by Dr. Fine (as far as I know). It seems that the 72-hr stool test for malabsorption is well-accepted- just not very practical. The other testing- such as measuring antibodies in stool, eg tTG, is also not widely studied. I did see an Italian study from 2002 that measured anti-EMA antibodies in stool samples and suggested this could be useful for diagnosis.

I expect it will take a number of years for things to change- research by other GI's who are not associated with Enterolab would be beneficial. If additional groups found similar results that support Dr. Fine's research, than there might be greater acceptance of this new testing method. If other researchers didn't find supporting evidence for this method, than it is unlikely that this testing will be accepted by the medical community.

However, what the medical community endorses or doesn't endorse is not the most important thing. How do you feel? Is the gluten-free diet making any difference to your symptoms?

Suzie