gluten testing

[Guest guest]

However, the enterolab test is far more accurate - 100% accurate for celiac whereas the blood tests are less accurate as they are more specific for the intestinal damage.From my discussions with Dr. Fine and the recall I have after going to a couple of his seminars, I think he would say that a positive stool test is not necessarily celiac.  He would say that a positive stool test is on the spectrum and that celiac would most likely result if gluten is not taken out of the diet.

Dr. Fine does not believe that anyone should eat any grains.  I think that is important to note when looking at his research.  He has a bias, just as does any other researcher.  I think that he has a great test, though, and when we just had two kids, all four of us had the basic stool testing done.  3 of the 4 of us were positive, which tends to happen with this test.  I'm not sure if it's because people who test with Dr. Fine already think they have a predisposition to gluten intolerance or something else.  My guess is the first.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this research with the zonulin goes.  While I don't expect to take a pill to resolve my own gluten issues, it might be very helpful for those people who don't seem to get better on the gluten-free diet.

Susie

[Guest guest]

Just for clarification as to the 100% accurate for celiac - that means if someone is  biopsy proven to have celiac then their enterolab test will be positive (backed up by Dr. Fine's research) - that is not true for the blood tests for celiac, which are very specific to the tissue damage - you can have a negative blood test, but still have a positive biopsy.  Absolutely - Dr. Fine's test is not specific to celiac, but is more accurate than blood tests.  Celiac as defined will only most likely develop in folks that have the main celiac genes - DQ2 and DQ8. For the other genes (all except DQ4), folks will likely not ever develop celiac, but the gluten intolerance still damages the body - there's lots of recent research on the neurological impacts.

I think the reason why the test is so often positive is due to self-selection - i.e., you're not going to do the test unless you suspect a problem or you have a family member with the problem. 

Certainly, Dr. Fine's dietary choices are not what most folks will follow, but over time he has become much more tolerant of folks that do keep some grains in their diet.  He does absolutely believe that no one should be eating gluten containing grains.  However, I do not think that impacts his research results per se - it certainly does impact his motivation.  There is an exceptional book - Dangerous Grains that gets into why the gluten containing grains are so bad for us - so it's not just Dr. Fine. That book is written by a top allergy doctor and it does a good job of showing the research around the autoimmune connections (including thyroid).  

Dr. Fine's research does show that the sooner you get the gluten out of your diet, the far less likely you are to develop these autoimmune problems later - the probability goes up exponentially after the teen years.  There's also a thing called genetic anticipation in that our kids will develop these problems sooner than we have, thus this is really important for folks with kids to consider this. 

Be well, B. 

 

However, the enterolab test is far more accurate - 100% accurate for celiac whereas the blood tests are less accurate as they are more specific for the intestinal damage.From my discussions with Dr. Fine and the recall I have after going to a couple of his seminars, I think he would say that a positive stool test is not necessarily celiac.  He would say that a positive stool test is on the spectrum and that celiac would most likely result if gluten is not taken out of the diet.

Dr. Fine does not believe that anyone should eat any grains.  I think that is important to note when looking at his research.  He has a bias, just as does any other researcher.  I think that he has a great test, though, and when we just had two kids, all four of us had the basic stool testing done.  3 of the 4 of us were positive, which tends to happen with this test.  I'm not sure if it's because people who test with Dr. Fine already think they have a predisposition to gluten intolerance or something else.  My guess is the first.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this research with the zonulin goes.  While I don't expect to take a pill to resolve my own gluten issues, it might be very helpful for those people who don't seem to get better on the gluten-free diet.

Susie