Can you control what genes you are born with? NO! You change your diet and lifestyle to avoid the troubles you may be facing and that seems to be about it.
Now gluten sensitivity and celiac disease can be evaluated with genetic testing. Traditional diagnostic testing has focused on blood antibody tests and or intestinal biopsies. Traditional tests for gluten sensitivity are often incorrect though.
These tests only measure a fraction of how a person’s immune system can react to gluten Blood tests only measure the gluten found in wheat (gliadin). People react to gluten in different ways. Some people may have one or multiple immune reactions: intestinal problems, psychological problems, migraine headaches, psoriasis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, multiple sclerosis- the list goes on and on. Many patients go to a Dr’s office after they were already biopsied or blood tested and then told that they did not have gluten intolerance, to find out that their gene DNA tests were positive
Traditional definition of gluten- clarified!
Most of the research regarding gluten intolerance, sensitivity and CD focuses only on 3 grains “wheat, barley, rye” and sometimes a fourth, oats. Many studies link the gluten in corn to adverse reactions and almost half of the people diagnosed with celiac disease do not get better on a traditionally defined gluten free diet- why it this? The answer – The traditionally defined Gluten Free Diet is not really gluten free.
You may read more about this very interesting topic at:
http://www.glutenfreesociety.org/genetic-testing-for-gluten-sensitivity
From our home to yours, Tina Turbin
If you have any questions or suggestions just email me at info (at) GlutenFreeHelp.info.
Testing is such a complicated issue but thankfully I’ve been successfully diagnosed. Phew! I know a celiac woman who didn’t get an accurate diagnosis for her kids until they were adults! This was after a decade and a half of testing. I couldn’t believe it myself. I’m just glad the testing is getting better over time. That’s what ultimately resulted in my friend’s kids’ successful diagnosis–the tests just got better.
Thanks for getting the word out on this. It was through genetic testing that my kids finally got diagnosed with genetic testing. It just wasn’t showing up in their blood work. I heard though that even the genetic test isn’t 100% accurate and I’ve even heard about a false positive occurring a few times.
Thanks this is a great test you recommend too make it’s not only accurate but it’s a test you can do at home so you have privacy and convenience there which is great. I wish there was more home testing available. I don’t have health insurance, so I have to pay for the doctor’s visit for testing which is kind of a silly expense when you think about how I can just stay home and order lab tests of my own!
This is true but from what I understand a positive gene test isn’t enough for a celiac diagnosis because just because you have the gene doesn’t mean you’ll have the symptoms, but you should continue to get tested frequently with the antibody test to see if you are producing antibodies in response to the gluten. My sister tested positive but she seems to be in great health and tries to eat mostly naturally gluten free foods like veggies and fruits and meat, and she seems to be doing great. I on the other hand am extremely sensitive to gluten and have been diagnosed with celiac disease so I have to follow a rigorous gluten free diet or I get very sick.
This is true but just because you have genes for something doesn’t mean you’re going to manifest it but at the same time you don’t know if gluten is actually having an effect on your health, even if it doesn’t sow up in tests.
I had a friend who ordered this test and she liked it. She said the test was very easy to use and that she got her results back fast and they were surprisingly easy to understand. I really admire Dr. Osborne so I’m pretty sure that anything he sells or backs up is of a high quality standard.
This is good if you have immediate family when you’re diagnosed with celiac disease because it’s likely you’re going to find someone–a parent, sibling, or child–who also has celiac disease. I was really surprised by how hard it was to get my family to get tested after I was diagnosed! My three kids all got tested but my two sisters and mom were too busy or didn’t have health insurance or lots of other excuses. We finally found out that my mom has CD.
Cool post here! With testing getting better and better and easier to order and take, I bet the diagnosis is rate is going to go much higher. Especially if people go ahead and make sure all their family members get tested and talk to all their friends and associates about celiac disease, I think word of mouth will produce great results! Plus FDA guidelines! Can’t wait for those to come out!
Hey there Tina and your wonderful, intelligent readers- I have been trying to get a celiac diagnosis for my son for a while now, and I’m anxious to see what his results will be to this test. Thanks so much for recommending this website. I wasn’t sure who to go with for a while for the testing.
Hi Tina thanks for these posts on testing. I still can’t believe how inefficient celiac testing is and it can be pretty hard to understand, so it’s always good to get more information on this and also recommendations for at-home testing, which I know is becoming more and more popular these days, not just for celiac testing but also for many, many other tests out there as well. ALCAT is great for testing for sensitivities I’ve heard and I think they also test for allergies.
I was lucky I think, and my son too, to get diagnosed easily and pretty early on. After only three months or so of showing symptoms, I was diagnosed celiac and then my son, who was 7 and having some tummy aches, was diagnosed too. I consider us very lucky and am always telling others about our experience just in case they are celiac or know people who may be too but haven’t been diagnosed correctly yet.