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A couple of things I have learned recently:
I was essentially gluten free for 4 months before gluten blood tests were done and they were negative although I was very ill.  I will not consider eating gluten for a challenge and retesting, as the last gluten accident recently resulted in all the usual symptoms which necessitated taking several days off from work.  The amount of gluten injested was very small and was in the flavoring in the soy powder, but I had the added symptom of face and lip swelling which can be very dangerous if not treated.  I was fine within a couple of days after stopping the new brand of soy powder and going back to the usual brand.  A book titled "Gluten-Sensitive Enteropathy" Publisher Karger was written by some MD's from England and has a chapter written by P. D. Howdle.  He states "there is no universally agreed procedure for gluten challenge.  The normal intake of gluten per day in the UK varies between 7 and 20g.  Bearing in mind that the average slice of bread contains approximately 1g of gluten, adult patients are challenged by asking them to return to a normal gluten containing diet and to ensure that they consume reasonable amounts of bread and other wheat containing products."
Also I received information from the Celiac Sprue Association yesterday with an article called Celiac Disease:The Great Mimic by C. Robert Dahl, M.D.  He is a member of the CSA Medical Advisory Board.   It states "It is apparant that those who had been challenged with gluten for diagnostic purposes had an increased risk for developing autoimmune disorders.  These data add weight to the argument for the development of screening programs to ensure diagnosis as early as possible.  It also casts doubt on the practice of gluten challenge to confirm the diagnosis of CD."
And now to my reason for wanting the gene test which is in process of being approved at the present time.  Continued 2

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