Genetic Testing From Kimball Labs

[anniebeth]

A while back I posted about my daughter having chronic diarrhea. She was given the blood test for celiac, but it came back negative. We dismissed that as a possibility, but after doing some research on the inaccuracy of testing on young children (she was 1) I decided to just take her off of gluten to see if it helped. Over the next couple of days her diarrhea completely disappeared and hasn't been back except on occasions where she accidentally eats something she shouldn't. I should also mention she was so small that her weight wasn't even on the growth chart. To better meal plan, I also went gluten free so I would be better prepared to have food for her. Surprisingly (to me) I started seeing health improvements- less digestive issues, less gass, regular periods, improvement in depression, and just recently, improvement in arthritis symptoms that I have had since high school. I was discussing this with my mom, and she told me that her sister, who has always had severe gastrointestinal problems, was also seeing the doctor for neuropathy. She apparently has had burning sensations in her limbs for a while now. She also has osteopenia and my mom has osteopenia as well as rhumatoid arthritis (what I have already started to have in my 20s). I didn't realize this, but people with celiac are at risk for all of these problems. Now I have decided to get the genetic test done by Kimball Labs to see if we carry the celiac genes. That way I can be more serious about avoiding gluten. If it turns out I do not have DQ 2 or DQ 8, but have any of the other DQ genes (besides DQ4/DQ4, which means you should have no problems with gluten) then that means it is probably just gluten sensitivity, and I don't have to be quite as careful? Is this correct? I was choosing Kimball because I read an article on here that said they did a more thorough check for the genes.

[ravenwoodglass]

You can't rely on genetic testing as far as whether you will for sure be celiac or not. I am a double DQ9, a rare gene in this country, here that gene is considered a gene for RA. It is also considered a celiac gene in the Orient but it only considered a 'sensitive' gene here. I had strong features of Ra and have been in remission since about 6 months into the diet with flares only when glutened. I have been firmly diagnosed by my doctors as celiac. I didn't have my genes tested until 5 years after I was diagnosed. I'm glad I didn't as I would have been labeled with RA and would likely be wheelchair bound or worse by now.

I am very strict on the diet, I had to be as I react to very little gluten.

Genetic testing can be useful in the diagnosis process but it isn't the be all and end all of diagnosis. There is still a great deal to be learned about celiac.

[nora-n]

Those who get the enterolab tests (which are done by the American red cross) get all the beta chains tested, whereas most other labs only test for DQ2 or DQ8.

Someone posted here not so long ago (but several weeks ago) that Labcorp had his complete answer when he phoned them, but he did not get it in the initial report. I do not know if that is common..

Some labs have started to test for half genes too, like the 05* alpha chain which amounts to half a DQ2. I do not remember which, I guess it is Kimball.

I am negative for DQ2 and 8 by a rapid test kinda like the above, that was a while ago. I want another test.