Celiac Blood Test

[celeste]

My daughter had blood tests for celiac I call for the results and the nurse said they were normal but the IgA came back high. I asked her what that meant and she said its just allergies!!! does this mean she does not have celiac or she doesnt know how to read the results. any opinions !!

[celiac3270]

I don't really know how to read blood results, nor do I know what this IgA stuff stands for, but if the nurse claims it's simply allergies, what allergies are she referring to? Wheat? I can't offer medical advice on the results, but I'm wondering what allergies she suspects.

[eternity]

IgA - there are four different types of IgA antibodies that are tested when checking for celiac disease

IgA endomysial antibody (IgA EMA)

IgA tissue transglutaminase antibody (IgA tTG)

IgA antigliadin antibody (IgA AGA)

IgG antigliadin antibody (IgG AGA)

Elevated levels of any of these means celiac disease is a possiblity. Which ones did she test positive for? How high were her levels. Certain ones are more accurate than others. For example - a positive endomysial marker is 98%-100% accurate for celiac disease without a biopsy.

I would call and talk to the lab to get the specifics of the test and then ask for someone else to interpret the results. If your child has elevated IgA levels it should be looked into.

Did you have allergy testing done as well? If not I would do so.

If you can't get better results get a second opinion. My doctor has very limited knowledge of celiac disease. I was even told that is was up to me whether or not to follow a gluten free diet for them!

My computer was broke and I finally got a new one and just saw this post. I will try to check back to see if you have more questions.

[kristenco]

Hi there -

I'm new to the "Celiac Community" but definitely not new to food allergies. I had my "bloodprint" done, which tests for food allergies - IgA and IgG. (The third type of allergies - IgE?? - tests for instant, "obvious" reactions - like anaphalectic reaction to peanuts, for example) IgG would be referring to a delayed food allergy (symptoms ranging from headaches to moodiness to skin problems, etc.). IgA, that you are referring to, refers to a "gut" reaction. Your digestive system is your body's first line of immune defense (giving your body a chance to vomit or have diarrhea to eliminate the toxin), so if there is a positive IgA response, it means that the "gut" is allergic to it. Now, I'm still in research phases - so somebody correct me if I'm wrong - but I believe the difference between an allergy and Celiac Disease is that celiac disease means that gluten actually destroys the villi in the intestines... which, of course, is much more serious than a mere allergy. (I am 27 years old, and just now learning about an IgA allergy I have to soy...)

What brings me to do Celiac research is that my son, 15 months, is also being tested right now. (We got the blood-draw today.) I'm gluten-sensitive, but my son (knock on wood) is having possible celiac symptoms. (Chronic diarrhea, weightloss, etc.)

Good luck!!

Kristen in Colorado

[mommida]

I lot of people have stated the blood tests are not accurate in a patient under the age of 20 months.

L.

[cherylk]

I know blood tests do carry false negatives. My child got a negative blood test to allergies and celiac disease. That is why a mom at the celiac foundation referred me to enterolab.com Because the antibodies are produced in the gut, that is the first place you should look. Unless you have enough damage in the villi done for the antibodies to spill over into the blood, you are going to get a negative. I know a mom in the R.O.C.K. (raising our celiac kids) who got a negative blood panel for celiac disease and waited six months until the damage was more severe and got a positive blood panel for celiac disease. I could not see my four year old suffer anymore. She had abdominal cramping (severe) and constipation. She would go over a week without a bowel movement. The new testing looks for the antibodies in the stool, where the foodstuff is. (to all the dinosaur GI's I want to say ...duh) Not in the blood. If you want to test a little one I would go to www.enterolab.com. There are gene and stool tests and you can read all about the Dr. Fine's curriculum vitae. In the four years my daughter has suffered, the ped. and the GI went by blood test only. No one cared about her celiac disease symptoms or her pain. I could not subject her to a biopsy at this age so the GI could satisfy himself, and just the fact that when she does not injest gluten containing foods, she is fine, should be enough. Because they say she does not have celiac disease, it is convenient for the extended family to not care for her special diet and they continue to poison her and she comes home and suffers. Sorry guys, but my anger is that the ped. and the GI igmore the obvious and they don't suffer in pain, my daughter does. Anyway, I really was happy that I got my answer from the stool and gene test from enterolab. My daughter does have celiac disease and not only were the antibodies present in her stool, she already has moderate malabsorbtion going on and she carries the HLADQB1 gene. Now my only fight is to get someone to stand up to the rich ex and let him know the testing is more then valid and to stop poisoning his daughter.

[tarnalberry]

More doctors are looking into the stool testing methods, so hopefully they're picking up on the demand for this sort of thing!