- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Iron deficiency anemia caused by menstrual bleeding
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Diverticulitis
- Intestinal infections
To determine if you have celiac disease, your doctor will order certain blood tests. One test checks for the presence of certain autoantibodies. Autoantibodies include proteins that act against the body's own cells or tissues. Your blood test will test for high amounts of anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies or tTGA, another option is testing for celiac disease utilizes checking for anti-endomysium antibodies or EMA. If both of these blood tests turn up negative results, your doctor may still believe that you have celiac disease and further blood tests may be ordered.
When both of these blood tests are negative and your doctor still believes that you may have celiac disease, your doctor might want to order other blood tests.
How To Get The Most Accurate Blood Test Results
To increase the reliability of your blood tests you need to keep eating gluten-containing foods. If you decide not to eat gluten-containing foods before having your blood tests, it is very likely that celiac disease may not show in your results even if you have the disease.
What Is The Intestinal Biopsy?
When your blood tests positive for celiac disease, your doctor will order an intestinal biopsy to corroborate the results.Your doctor performs the intestinal biopsy for celiac disease by starting with a long, thin tube called an endoscope that she or he inserts through your mouth and stomach down into the small intestines. Your doctor then takes small pieces of tissue from your small intestine to determine if you have damaged villi.
What Is Dermatitis Herpetiformis?
Dermatitis herpetiformis or DH is an incredibly itchy rash that also causes blistering of your skin. Dermatitis herpetiformis affect approximately 15 to 25 percent of those who have celiac disease. The rash most often affects the elbows, knees, and buttocks. In fact, the majority of people who have celiac disease have none of the digestive symptoms associated with the disease.Testing for DH includes blood tests and a biopsy of your skin. When the antibody tests are positive, and the skin biopsy shows the usual findings of DH, an intestinal biopsy will not be required. The good thing is that the skin disease and the intestinal form of celiac disease respond well to the gluten-free diet. Should you add gluten back into your diet you will experience a recurrence of celiac disease.
Skin rash symptoms often respond well to antibiotics such as dapsone. Since the intestinal disease does not respond to antibiotics, it is critical for you to follow the gluten-free diet for life.
Who Should Be Screened For Celiac Disease?
As we have already discussed, screening for celiac disease is especially important if you have family member already diagnosed with the disease. An estimated four to 12 percent of your immediate family will also have celiac disease.What Are The Treatments For Celiac Disease?
A gluten-free diet is the only treatment for celiac disease. You may need to work with a dietitian to help you get on the proper gluten-free diet. Food and nutrition are the specialty of dietitians. You will learn how to read labels to identify gluten in foods before you buy them at the store or in restaurants.While children with celiac disease may see marked improvement in 3 to 6 months, adults diagnosed with this disease may take several years before existing celiac disease damage heals. If you do not see any improvement after a reasonable amount of time on the gluten-free diet, you may need to see your dietitian to help determine what you may be eating that contains gluten.
Remember, once diagnosed with celiac disease, you will have to follow the gluten-free diet for the rest of your life. Contact your doctor if you begin to exhibit any symptoms of celiac disease when you are following the gluten-free diet.
NICCID. Celiac Disease. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/index.aspx. 09/29/11.
