best tests for celiac

lisa15601 · Post by **lisa15601** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:46 pm

Can someone tell me of which of these :bloodwork,upper gi, or enterolab are best for testing for celiac or gluten intolerance

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 5:28 pm

Hi Lisa, OK lets break these up and look at each one briefly.

First celiac disease is a full blown systemic reaction like a severe allergy to gluten. Early in the development of celiac disease many patients are gluten intolerant and this is not detectable in the classic blood tests... It can however be detected in the stool samples fairly easily.

Now for the different methods of detecting gluten intolerance and celiac disease they are:

1.) Enterolab, which looks for reactionary markers in a stool sample for various reactive food groups, including gluten. Since this test looks for the markers in the stools it will see the earliest signs of a reaction to gluten, before it can be measured in the blood. What has been found is that if you show positive to gluten in the Enterolab test, and then did not address it, you are at significantly increased chance of developing celiac disease. Remember celiac disease is a IgA & IgG (I think) mediated reaction that is detected in the blood. The early stages of the disease (gluten intolerance) can only reliably be found in the stool test from Enterolab

2.) Upper GI series can see the beginning portion of of the small intestine in most cases, and can visually inspect and biopsy the villi for atrophy or flattening which is sometimes a sign of celiac disease. It should be noted that not all cases of celiac will show flattening or atrophy of the villi. Therefore this would not be a so much a test for celiac disease but more of a supportive conformation of its advanced presence.

3.) The blood-work for celiac disease typically looks at both IgA and IgG anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) which are detected in the sera of patients with gluten sensitive enteropathy (celiac disease). IgG anti-gliadin antibodies are more sensitive but are less specific markers for disease compared with IgA class antibodies.

Overall the blood test for celiac disease is only sensitive for detecting 'full blown' celiac disease, NOT gluten intolerance which really is the first stages of celiac disease.

So to answer your question Lisa. The bloodwork only looks for celiac disease and the stool tests from Enterolab will be the most accurate for determining a gluten sensitivity or intolerance.

--Joe

TooManyHats · Post by **TooManyHats** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 7:48 pm

An upper Gi is a test where the patient drinks barium and x-rays are taken. It cannot detect celiac disease. What Joe was describing is an endoscopy where a camera is inserted into the small intestine, and biopsies are taken to look for evidence of villus damage.

jmayk8 · Post by **jmayk8** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 8:04 pm

My blood results always came back negative for Celiac but I was diagnosed via endoscopy.
Jenny

lisa15601 · Post by **lisa15601** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 8:47 pm

Sorry Endoscopy is what I mean. So many terms...lol

TooManyHats · Post by **TooManyHats** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 8:59 pm

I've seen Crohn's diagnosed with that test, so I wanted to make sure Lisa.

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 7:10 am

My preference would be Entrolab as a lot of us have used them, trusted them and got accurate results.

Maggie

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 7:58 am

Maggie,

Gloria

irisheyes13 · Post by **irisheyes13** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:23 am

Lisa,

I have to agree with what many here have said already. I have had the bloodwork testing for celiac disease as well as an endoscopy. The blood work came back inconclusive showing antibodies but not high enough to be considered full blown celiac disease. There is a fairly high false negative with the bloodwork as well. The endoscopy was negative for villi blunting. Keep in mind that endoscopy with biopsy is only testing the upper section of the small intestines for damage which has occurred. You can have a gluten intolerance and still have a negative EGD as Joe mentioned earlier.

On the other hand, I had Enterolab testing done and got my results last week. I wasn't thrilled with the results but the fact is, I now have answers- hard facts that can help me achieve remission. I had a similar reaction as you have had when I first found out that I had MC. I was on board with it and tried every drug which can be prescribed. I had bad reactions to all of them including immunosuppressants and antibiotics which made everything worse. I even tried going gluten free for 6 months and became so frustrated because this didn't help the raging D, cramping and pain either.

After having very specific and sensitive testing through Enterolab, I now know why I wasn't getting better. As so many here have found out, I have multiple food intolerances. All the medications in the world can't fix that but guess what? - I can. If it turns out that I am unable to achieve remission with diet alone, I may consider trying meds again in addition to diet.

Unfortunately the testing wasn't covered by my particular insurance plan but it is far cheaper than what I have spent on copays with dr. visits and prescriptions which I ended up flushing not to mention deductibles with all the other testing that has been done trying to find an answer to the myriad of symptoms. I really urge you to give Enterolab testing a try. It is so much more sensitive than bloodwork, less invasive than endoscopy and can test for sensitivities other than gluten at the same time if you so choose. Good luck.