Ema, Ttg And What They Really Mean

[guest134]

Hi everyone, I have been doing some research and after speaking to several doctors and I have some questions about EMA, TTG and what they really mean.

First off, both antibodies are markers of inflammatory situations, when your endomysial layering of the small intestine gets damaged, both antibodies get released, the higher the number the higher the damage.

Now the issue I see with this is that TTG has a specificity of 94 percent while EMA has anywhere between 95-99 percent, but how were these determined? They were done so through healthy screening populations VS. people with celiac, if someone that was supposedly healthy came in and tested positive to these antibodies they have the above mentioned chance of actually having the disease. So when I look at that I think Ok, but what about hospitalized or severely sick people? This list can include any type of enteritis, both bacterial and viral in nature as well as any other issues that cause problems with the stomach.

Since medical research has shown EMA and TTG to be elevated in lymphoma, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, giardiasis, salmonella, E coli, the list goes on, it leaves me wondering why do they claim the specificity to be so high? If up to 1/2 of people go through transient autoimmune reactions after infection than why would they not adjust these claims to "healthy population screenings"?

Bottom line, EMA and TTG are signs of inflammation and villi damage, both can be caused by multiple ailments and not just celiac. Continuing research is now starting to really discredit TTG in particular saying its specificity is much less than originally thought.

Thoughts?

[nvsmom]

Interesting...

Perhaps it accounts for those with the transient autoimmune reactions by the low probability that someone would be experiencing that at the time of testing. Or perhaps they based that specificity number on only healthy individuals; maybe they did not include those who had had an infection in the last 6 months?

... I'm just guessing.

I'm of the opinion that if it looks, walks and sound like a horse it probably is a horse. That animal in front of me might not be a pure horse, maybe it has some donkey in it, but chances are it is just a horse... the simplest and most obvious solution is probably right. If someone has some celiac symptoms, and that person tests positive for celiac (be it by blood test or biopsy), that person is probably are a celiac.

That's just my thoughts though.

[guest134]

Interesting...

Perhaps it accounts for those with the transient autoimmune reactions by the low probability that someone would be experiencing that at the time of testing. Or perhaps they based that specificity number on only healthy individuals; maybe they did not include those who had had an infection in the last 6 months?

... I'm just guessing.

I'm of the opinion that if it looks, walks and sound like a horse it probably is a horse. That animal in front of me might not be a pure horse, maybe it has some donkey in it, but chances are it is just a horse... the simplest and most obvious solution is probably right. If someone has some celiac symptoms, and that person tests positive for celiac (be it by blood test or biopsy), that person is probably are a celiac.

That's just my thoughts though.

Those were my thoughts too, I am actually really interested in this whole issue since all the weird medical results I have gotten during salmonella and its aftermaths. Both my doctors and I hypothesized that I am probably one of the few that demanded a celiac test after salmonella and being healthy prior to infection. I am getting constant calls by doctors wanting to use me as a research project now thinking I could have started the way to a new understanding of the bodys reaction to foreign invaders. My thoughts are how weird is that? Your body creates a transient flow of antibodies to destroy itself in order to heal itself.

When I am not feeling lazy I will link you guys to all the articles my doctors and I have read, very interesting!

I feel so unique! lol.. I guess you can say with the 99 specificity I am the 1 percent . Hopefully that will entitle me to some tax breaks this year...

[nvsmom]

You're special! LOL

I believe the connections to viruses or bacteria. As a teen, I had a double case of mono and pneumonia, and then 6 months to a year later I developed ITP (thrombocytopenia) which made me critically ill. 15 years ago I had quite a virus, and then a few months later I had my first arthritic like attack; it could have been the start of Hashimoto's throiditis or something else. I've had numerous repeats of that symptom every year.

I've had celiac since early childhood, so i have no idea what set it off. I did have all of the usual childhood illness like fifths, and chicken pox (3 times). Who knows...