Catching Gluten Sensitivity Early

[jasonD2]

After 5 yrs of digestive problems i finally decided to get an entire gastro/food allergy/blood/hormone workup. i'll have the results in a few weeks but i just found out from enterolab that i have elevated gliadin anitbodies. If ive had this sensitivity for 4-5 yrs, is there a chance I could develop stomach cancer? i'm worried that all the problems ive had are gonna cause long-term problems for me. my maternal great grandma and grandma both died of stomach cancer but they had terrible diets and never went to doctors. my mom has ibs and diverticulosis, but is now 65 and very healthy otherwise. u think i caught my problems early?

[MammaW]

I don't about the stomach cancer part, but I do know that the damage to the intestines can heal. I am not even sure that there is any specific damage to the stomach itself, I have only read about the damage to the intestines-never the stomach though. I know that certain cancers do run in families, so I would just make sure that your gastroenterologist knows every little detail about your family history and keeps a very close eye on you....regardless of how the celiac stuff turns out.

Keep us posted!

[kbtoyssni]

I don't know for sure, but going gluten-free at this point is really, really going to decrease your chances of getting cancer int he future. You might have a slightly higher risk than the general population, but the average length of time it takes to diagnose celiac is 11 years so I'm thinking you're doing better than most of us I wish I could give you a better answer, but you're doing everything right now, and it's not like you were knowingly harming your body the past few years. You can't change the past, so focus on the future and keeping yourself healthy.

[gfpaperdoll]

I think from day 1 a healthy diet helps you avoid cancer. I read somewhere that people with celiac have a higher rate of cancer until they have been gluten free for 5 years when their cancer rate then equals that of the general population. Not sure where I read that... But I am also sure that varies, that could be only for people that have advanced villi damage...

[Guest andie]

Just a couple of things.

Are you sure your grandparents both had stomach cancer? It would be unlikely that a great grandmother ever had a scope or CT. It may very well have been bowel cancer as it would act similar in symptoms with an obstruction.

Regardless, any tracing of lines with one type of cancer should be monitored closely. If you are in Canada they recommend yearly colonoscopy, EGD for bowel cancer history.

You were born with celiac disease. Some people are more sensitive then others and significant damage will be done before symptoms appear. Has something happened in the last 5 years that you would consider a 'trigger'?

Andie

[jasonD2]

well 5 years ago i had a bout of gastroenteritis and it happened at the worst possible time...right after finishing up a 4 month course of antibiotics and during an extremely stressful time in my life. that sound like a trigger to you?