Question about my Mom's test results

[DebS]

Ok, I was diagnosed with a non-celiac gluten sensitivity last Dec. I've not had tests done to determine what kind of genes I carry...still trying to decide if it's worth the effort. Anyway, I thought my mom should be tested as she has some health issues that are associated with CD; low vitamin B-12, for which she takes weekly shots, osteoperosis, and problems with digesting dairy products. She has said that as a child she would get terrible stomach aches. Her parents took her to the dr. numerous times, always thinking it was her appendix. She's sure it was her problems with dairy, as she was raised on a dairy farm so cheese and milk were always in abundant supply and she ate a lot of cheese. She's also recently been having problems with stomach aches that just kind of come and go for no apparent reason. Anyway, she asked her dr. to test for celiac, only because of my recent diagnosis. The only thing he tested was the anti-gliadin IGG and IGA. Both of those numbers were in the normal range. My question is, is this enough of an indication that she doesn't have a problem with gluten? Can you have negative anti-gliadin results and still have CD? Just wondering if I should encourage her to have the full celiac panel done or not. Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Deb

[aklap]

Hi Deb,

Interesting...she certainly does have many of the assoc. symptoms. I do have to wonder about her docs tho. While the AGA tests are important in getting the whole picture, they have fallen out of favor because they are nonspecific enough. Generally, docs will run the "newer" tTG or EMA tests and NOT do the AGA. I wonder how far behind her doc is? Anyway...enough rambling

Have they ever found a reason for her low B12 [ie Pernicious Anemia]? Many times docs won't find the reason for something, they just treat they symptoms [giving shots or pills]. If she's low in B12 that means she's not absorbing it. The same with the Osteo...is she may not be absorbing properly - calcium & Vit. D.

Have they tested her B12 recently?
Have they tested her Vit. D? This is directly related to bone health.

List of articles on Bones & CD

http://courses.washington.edu/bonephys/refs/spruerefs.html

This is the home page where these articles live: http://courses.washington.edu/bonephys/ophome.html


I think I'd pushed to get the rest of the Complete CD panel done. It is recommended for those with Osteo to be screened for CD. I don't remember any stats on percentages about negative AGA's vs positive tTG/EMA. The tTG/EMA tests will look for villi damage [or what happens from the result of villi damage]. There's something going on and it needs to figure out.

I also think I might look around for different docs. I would also get copies of her lab results too.

How open would she be about trying a GF diet? I know my mother would not even think about it!

I wish you luck! Please keep up updated.
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa