1. Simple (But Important) Blood Tests
Because celiac disease can be silent--presenting no symptoms--your doctor may screen you for celiac with a simple celiac disease blood test. She looks first at your complete blood count (CBC), which tells if your iron level is low. Then she may order blood tests to evaluate your inflammation response, which includes your C-Reactive protein (CRP) and your erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). She looks at your complete metabolic panel (CMP) to see how your kidneys and liver are functioning and to see if your calcium and protein levels are normal. She evaluates whether your body is absorbing the vitamins in your food by checking vitamin B, D and E levels. But the main blood tests for celiac disease are the tissue Transgultamase antibody level (tTG), Total IgA, Anti-Gliadin antibodies (AGA) and Anti-tTG antibodies (IgG). These show if your body is reacting to the gluten you consume in your diet. Your doctor will evaluate your results to determine your risk of celiac.
2. Is That Your Final Answer?
The tTG celiac disease test, for some, shows inconclusive results, and in some cases, it may show a negative result when you actually do have celiac disease. You and your doctor should go over the celiac disease symptoms, do a thorough medical history and possibly try a gluten free diet to evaluate your condition.
3. What's Eatin' Ya?
Celiac disease is a disease in which the gluten in the diet causes the small intestines to deteriorate, eventually leading to malabsorbtion of the nutrients you eat. Soon after going on the gluten free diet, however, your body starts to heal itself and your blood composition changes. Particularly, your body no longer produces high numbers of the tTG antibodies because it is no longer dealing with the gluten in your food. Before taking a celiac disease test, you are required to be on a gluten containing diet for at least two weeks prior to the blood test to get the most accurate results. Make sure you let your doctor know about any dietary changes you make and be sure he concurs with those changes.
4. More Tests to Take
Another celiac disease test your doctor may prescribe is a fecal fat analysis, which requires a stool sample. While this sample isn't comfortable to collect, at least it doesn't require any anesthesia. She may suggest allergy testing as well. This shows what foods your body possibly reacts to and gives the doctor some guide as to what foods, along with the gluten, to eliminate from your diet. Expect to feel better when these foods are gone, a great trade off.
5. The Biopsy
No one with a positive tTG level escapes the bowel biopsy. This requires a few small samples of the duodenum, the part of the small intestine immediately following the stomach. This sample verifies the presence of celiac disease and is the conclusive celiac disease test. This biopsy shows whether the lining of the small intestine has suffered damage. This test requires a light sedation and your doctor using a scope to see into your stomach and small intestine. He will then take about six to eight samples of your duodenum to check for damage to your cilia.
