Enterolab - What Does It Do Better?

[baggotlane]

Hi!

I was recommended at this site to get a set of tests done by Enterolab. I looked at the site. It seems reasonable but I would first like to know what it does that is better than other labs. I have had had a whole array of tests done already, a complete panel of blood tests, absorption tests, vitamin, carotene, stool tests etc. done by two doctors, plus a , colitis etc. I have, as a result, been put back on a full gluten diet again, where I must remain for several months. Then a emdoscopy will be done on the upper parts of the digestive system.

I am prepared to do an Enterolab test if it helps but I would first need to know what it does that all the other lab tests do not.

Andrew

[Guest jhmom]

HI Andrew, welcome

Dr. Fine at Enterolab designed a stool panel test which is more sensitive and accuate than the blood. I went through all the same blood test and procedures through a GI doctor only to be told it must be IBS because nothing was showing up in the blood.

I finally had enough after a year of this and was ready to be pain free so I ordered the test. Within 2 weeks of sending my sample in I had my results, they were POSITIVE. I immediately began the gluten-free diet and could tell a difference in my health within just a few days.

I hope you get some answers soon and begin to feel better! Take care

[Guest barbara3675]

Just to back up what the former person offered.....I had a negative blood test, but through Enterolab was diagnosed to have the gene for celiac and have a sensitivity to gluten. I know I feel better when not eating gluten and that there have been several times that I have been very sick because of gluten and it doesn't happen to me anymore. It was worth the price of the test to me to find out what I did and I will not be eating gluten anymore.

Barbara

[gf4life]

I just want to agree with the two others here. My story is so similar to theirs that I won't repeat it, but I back Enterolab's diagnosis for me and my kids. And their gene test is more complete than other labs, since they also test for other "lesser" genes that are linked to gluten sensitivity (but not yet conscidered to be celiac disease genes). Most labs only test for DQ2 & DQ8. My two boys would have come back negative for these if I had gone with another lab, but they do have these other genes and with the severe reactions to gluten and the complete reversal of symptoms on the diet, I believe the results.

God bless,

Mariann

[bmorrow]

Andrew,

I will also add my support for Enterolab and Dr. Fine. I have posted on here previously about my long journey to a diagnosis. I was told by one of the best teaching and practicing GI doctors in the U.S. that Dr. Fine's test is much more advanced and reliable then the blood tests or the biopsy. If you have any questions, please ask.

[baggotlane]

Thanks for the replies. You appear to have been negative on blood tests but positive on Enterolab's tests. Is that the case? May I ask which blood tests did you do? Just the IgA? or did you also do things like malabsorption. Were you also also negative on non-Enterolab stool tests?

I am still trying to find out out what the differences are. I saw liittle change going gluten-free but not a while lot (after 7 weeks). In fact, before my doctor took me off a gluten-free diet I was seeing a reversion. I am not happy just being told I have gluten sensitivity (if that is indeed what I have). I want to know what I am being tested for. Thanks.

Andrew

[gf4life]

I was negative on the blood tests (the entire panel of Celiac tests) but I had been gluten free off and on before doing them, plus I have never been tested for IgA deficiency, of which I also have symptoms and would alter my test results if I have it (ther is also some question about cortisone and if it affects the test results, I use a cortisone cream on my psoriasis)...so I don't put much stock in my results. I was never tested for malabsorbtion (except at Enterolab), and no other stool tests were done on me except for the Enterolab tests. In the US there are no other stool tests for gluten sensitivity (or Celiac for that matter), only Enterolab. My biopsy was done after I had been gluten-free and then went back on gluten for two months (it is now recommended that you be on gluten for 3-6 months) and only 3 samples were taken. Of those samples they were NOT looked at on the cellular level to see if the intraepithelial lymphocytes were elevated -indicating early Celiac damage. So I don't put much stock in that negative result either. My Enterolab stool tests for tTg & IgA (endomysial) antibodies were positive, and I have the DQ2 gene (and also DQ3-subtype 7, which I believe is referred to as DQ7, and is one of those lesser genes I mentioned before).

God bless,

Mariann

[baggotlane]

Thank you Mariann. It is good to hear of tests that have proved beneficial where others may not.

Having said that, what I was really looking for was not so much testimonials as to the work done and the results obtained but rather what was the difference between the the testing methods and procedures done at Enterolab and those done elsewhere. It is more of a scientific inquiry. I consulted the Enterolab site for that information but did not find what I was looking for.

What I need is a reference to comparisons of testing methods. All of the labs I've looked at are all apoproved but the difference in what or how they do the testing needs to be clarified. Is there a study of the testing procedures available?

Andrew

[tarnalberry]

Enterolab is the only one that looks for antibodies in the stool itself. Other labs do blood testing.

Some doctors do not accept the results from Enterolab, because the stool testing method has not been peer reviewed and accepted by the mainstream medical community, but Dr. Fine is apparently working on publishing and researchers in Italy are also looking at this method of testing.

[Matilda]

..

[baggotlane]

Thanks. On looking around I found several sites where stool testing of the fat content has been used. Many people seem to be under the impression that it is rarely done. It was done in my case, for instance, but not via Enterolab. It was negative also, by the way, along with all other tests. So, I am on the lookout for the differences in procedure used.

Andrew

[gf4life]

On looking around I found several sites where stool testing of the fat content has been used. Many people seem to be under the impression that it is rarely done.

I for one know that it is done on many people, but I have had diogestive problems since I was a child and in all the doctors I have ever been to I have NEVER been asked to do that test (nor have my children). So if some people have the impression that it is rarely done, that impression is coming from the doctors they have encountered who rarely (if ever) do that test.

When we had the malabsorbtion/fecal fat test done through Enterolab this was our results: (300 is positive for malabsorbtion)

Myself- 54

My oldest boy- 55

My daughter- 148

My younger son-272

Not surprising is that my son that was hitting close to 300 is the one with the most health issues. He also doesn't have either of the Celiac genes, he has DQ1 & DQ7, but has a huge reaction to gluten. He is also not allergic to gluten, only what is considered now to be non-Celiac gluten sensitivity. At least until they open up the genetics of celiac disease to include more genes (which one of our son's specialists says is very likely, since they have not done enough research on the celiac genes yet).

God bless,

Mariann