Celiac Disease Screening

Here is an insightful blog with updated information on celiac disease screening. This is helpful for anyone who is curious about the topic for their own needs, or for someone they know. Miranda Jade has worked with me over the years. She is a diagnosed celiac herself, after enduring several years of incorrect diagnoses. This is a subject she is very passionate about, and her internal flame of knowledge continues to burn. Helping others with her knowledge once again, here you go!

 

 

I was diagnosed celiac 14 years ago. At that time, you almost had to beg your gastroenterologist to test you for celiac. Fortunately, times have definitely changed, and celiac disease screening is more readily available, and the disease is far more understood by the masses. 

A lot of people who think they potentially have celiac have already been poked and prodded quite a bit. They have tried this diet and that diet. This cleanse and that cleanse. To make life a bit easier on you, you can test for celiac right now from the comfort of your own home! Just a simple finger prick, and the long awaited answer to a persistent question could be answered. Sounds pretty good, right? Well it is. But I do want to point out all the facts about this before we get too carried away.

For starters, you cannot be on a gluten-free diet and do a celiac test. This means you have to be ingesting gluten regularly for many, many, many days prior to this test. For some, this is no problem at all. For those who have stayed off of gluten, due to dietary reasons or stomach pains, this could be a pretty grueling process. I remember about 4 years after I was diagnosed celiac, I ordered something gluten free for lunch. The restaurant had mixed up my order and I didn’t realize it until I was ½ way through my meal. I thought to myself “maybe I will be alright because I haven’t eaten gluten in so long”. Boy, was I wrong! 102 fever, hugging the toilet, joints aching for a week, migraine suffering, etc. So, needless to say, If I had been told I needed to eat tons of gluten for days and days to be tested for celiac, I would have laughed in someone’s face. I cannot stress enough to read your labels at the grocery store. There are lots of hidden gluten in food products.

I do notice a trend of people deciding to take their health matters into their own hands. With so many companies offering simple at home testing for food allergies, hormones, etc., it has become easier and easier to do. However, this does mean that you need to be able to understand those test results once you get them. It is imperative to do your follow-up research or take those tests to a reputable doctor. 

Another test I recommend is the celiac genetic test. What this does is test whether you have a gene that can be triggered and result in the onset of celiac disease at some point in life. Yes, celiac disease is genetic. To put this into perspective, my family (mom, dad, myself and two brothers) all have the celiac gene. This means we have the ability to one day have that gene get triggered and have celiac from then on out. My mom, my oldest brother and I were “lucky” enough to have that happen, and we all have celiac disease. My dad and other brother can eat croissants all day, and have no issues. This test is 99% accurate and a great place to start.

This is also a great test to do on your children if you have celiac disease. This way, you know if you passed that gene on or not and if they can ever develop it. Plus, it is just a mouth swab, so it is completely painless for your little ones. Unfortunately, we do not know at this time what exactly it is that triggers that gene to come into play. It could be diet, environment or a combo of things. Hopefully one day we will have more answers. Until then I will just wipe up my drool as I walk by French pastry shops!

 

Ref:

 https://www.verywellhealth.com/celiac-disease-genetic-testing-562695

 https://www.celiac.com/articles.html/ten-facts-about-celiac-disease-genetic-testing-r1255/

Miranda Jade

From our home to yours, Tina Turbin
If you have any questions or suggestions just email me at info (at) GlutenFreeHelp.info.