Reading Results

[melmak5]

I was diagnosed in June with celiac, and finally convinced a family member to get tested.

He has diabetes.

His results were

tTG/IgA - 26 (abnormally high)

IgG - 2 (normal)

AGG - 5 (normal)

His pcp said 'I don't know how to read these." His kidney doctor said "you don't have any digestive symptoms, its negative"

My question is...

Should I really hound him to get an endoscopy or can elevated tTG just be from his diabetes?

[NY547]

In my oppinion, he is positive for celiac. Celiac can affect/attack more than just the GI tract. Just ask the people with DH! He has antibodies to Tissure transglutaminase which is a VERY SPECIFIC marker for villous atrophy caused by gluten ingestion.

He may want to have the test repeated just to be sure there was no lab error since the other 2 tests were normal, but I know that many doctors will ONLY run the TTg IgA when screening for celiac anyway, as it is the most specific.

There are also latent or silent cases of celiac where people experience no GI systems, however the damage is still being done and can affect other systems and organs, especially the liver and kidneys.

I would definately have your family member look into the possibility of celiac further to avoid future complications.

[melmak5]

Thank you.

Pretty much what you said to me, I said to him. But I began to doubt my convictions.

He does not have the GI symptoms, but he has a zillion other problems that sound like celiac to me.

He is severly anemic (the doctors have him on procrit)

He is physically exhausted, all the time.

He is depressed and it is near impossible to communicate with him.

He gets tingly limbs.

He has had gout (not sure about this one)

He breaks out in rashes that come and go.

All his doctors have attributed his conditions to his diabetes, but to me, it sounds like there is something else going on.

I will keep pushing!