Testing For Cleiac Or Not

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I have 4 kids and my 6 yr old has been tested postive for gluten intollarance. She has had a scope for celiac disease and it was negative. Her blood work states that she has the DNA that makes up celiac so the Dr. put her on a gluten free diet. My 3yrs old started having systems so we got her tested too. DNA was the same and we found out that she is allergic to milk, eggs and whey. The Dr. did not want to do a scope on her but did put her on a gluten free diet. My other 2 kids she didn't want to see because they have no systems. I took them to there regular Dr. along with myself and had us do a DNA test to see if we were positive for the DNA to celiac disease. My 2 kids came back positive for the DNA and I didn't. I'm having other problems with gaining wieght so my dr. is doing a scope on me just to make sure there is nothing going on. Since I've been eating gluten free I've lost 10 lbs and currantly weigh 94lbs. Just to be sure his is testing me for celic. My question is. If they have the DNA to celiac disease do they need to be on a gluten free diet to prevent it turning into celiac or even having complacations later on in life. Do I need to have them tested for food allergies when they have no signs of any problems with food. We all follow the diet at home but with the other 2 kids they eat what ever at school and at friends house. I don't know much about this so I'm a little confused. Since my DNA test was negitive could I still have Celiac disease?

[TrillumHunter]

People can carry the gene and never develop celiac. You can not have the gene and have celiac because all the genes aren't identified. The kids should all be tested because there can be intestinal damage without outward symptoms.

We are in the same situation. I am blood/biopsy positive celiac. My kids all had negative blood work/positive genes. Only one kid tested borderline. But, they all had health issues so we opted to try the gluten free diet for them. We have had great results. By default my husband went gluten-free and has improved health as well. We have made a choice for our kids because of the gene. They may chose otherwise as adults. It isn't necessary and some discourage it but for us it is a personal choice.

[Mother of Jibril]

I have a few thoughts...

1) If all of your kids have the genes for celiac, why wait for major problems to develop? You could be saving them so much suffering by getting them off gluten or at least cutting way back.

2) I'm still waiting for my own DNA test, but I was having a lot of abdominal symptoms (pain, gas, bloating, constipation) and when I stopped eating gluten there was a dramatic improvement. However, long before I had these symptoms I had acne, hair loss, depression, heavy periods... signs of hypothyroidism, which is an autoimmune disorder that frequently clusters with celiac. Years before I noticed the pain, foods like gluten (and now I'm thinking corn too) were damaging my intestines and letting all sorts of undigested particles leak out into my bloodstream where they didn't belong. That's what causes autoimmune disorders... it messes with your immune system's ability to recognize what is "you" and what is "not you" and then it starts destroying things that shouldn't be destroyed... like your pancreas (type 1 diabetes), thyroid (hypothyroidism), adrenal glands (Addison's disease), joints (rheumatoid arthritis), nervous system (epilepsy, MS), etc... Nasty.

3) "Dangerous Grains" helped me understand "non-celiac gluten sensitivity" (although I'm sure I still have a lot more to learn) If the diet is doing good things for you, does it matter if it's celiac or not?