3 Year Old Son, Family History Of celiac disease - Question....

[pejkug3]

I'm confused. My son is 3 years old, has symptoms of celiac disease and we have a family history of celiac disease (grandma, aunt and 3 cousins).

Brief call to the doctor today - the nurse said his IgA was 5.8 - is this good or bad?

That's the only number I have. The doctor is supposed to call tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm going NUTS trying to figure out if a low number is good or bad. What is the normal range? Does it depend on the lab as well as the age of the patient?

Thanks for any help - I want to sleep tonight! lol

[tallfran]

That IgA is very low. According to the numbers on the blood work I had, normal is 68-378.

That doesn't mean he has celiac. It also doesn't mean he doesn't. He apparently has what is know as Selective IgA Deficiency, seen in about 3 percent of celiacs, according to Dr. Green. You won't really know about the celiac until you get his IgG-TTA levels back.

This is what Dr. Green says about Selective IgA Deficiency: "There is a genetically determined condition called selective IgA deficiency that occurs in about 0.2 percent of the population and in about 3 percent of patients with celiac cisease. These people do not make IgA antibodies, whether or not they have celiac disease. Since most of the highly specific and sensitive blood tests for celiac disease measure IgA, the tests are measuring a class of antibody that some people cannot ever make. Therefore, if a patients total IgA is 0 or extremely low, running an IgG tissue transglutaminase antibody is recommended in order to determine of IgG celiac antibodies are present. These tests are important if you are IgA deficient since you may not otherwise be diagnosed."

Hopefullly these labs were also done when they drew the blood for the IgA. Nobody likes getting stuck, especially if you are only three years old...

I'm confused. My son is 3 years old, has symptoms of celiac disease and we have a family history of celiac disease (grandma, aunt and 3 cousins).

Brief call to the doctor today - the nurse said his IgA was 5.8 - is this good or bad?

That's the only number I have. The doctor is supposed to call tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm going NUTS trying to figure out if a low number is good or bad. What is the normal range? Does it depend on the lab as well as the age of the patient?

Thanks for any help - I want to sleep tonight! lol

[ravenwoodglass]

Blood tests on children under the age of 5 are almost useless. You should give the diet a good try no matter what the results are. Don't trust blood tests, for you or for your child without giving the diet at least a couple of months, strictly.