<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

#28
>
>If you have celiac during pregnancy, that can affect the fetus in
>numerous ways, which is an accepted fact in most things I've read.
>Undiagnosed Celiac Moms have LOTS more miscarriages and infertility,
>and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets linked to birth defects too.
>So in a way, you were fortunate that he was only hyperactive in
>utero.
>
>I haven't read anything about whether the iGa antibodies cross the
>placental barrier (or the other stuff that you could get in your
>blood if you have 'leaky gut'). iGa causes DH, at the least. Babies
>do inherit immunities from their Moms. Breast milk contains various
>substances meant to trigger immune reactions in the baby to, say,
>cold viruses, if the Mom has had that virus and is therefore immune.
>That way the baby's immune system will recognize cold viruses as the
>enemy and destroy them. The celiac reaction (and other regular food
>allergies) happen when your body has 'learned' to view a part of the
>gliaden protein as 'the enemy'. I don't see why the immune trigger
>that causes celiac couldn't get across in breast milk too, but I'm
>not sure exactly what substance is involved. I haven't seen any
>documentation on it.
>
>In the past, celiac was thought to be primarily a 'baby disease' and
>the 'cure' was to feed the kid mashed bananas, and nothing but
>mashed bananas, until they got well. So certainly the 'trigger' can
>happen in babyhood: whether they were born with the reaction or
>whether it just got triggered early. They probably don't 'have'
>celiac per se in utero though, because nothing much is going through
>the baby's digestive tract. The baby swallows amniotic fluid, but I
>wouldn't think that would contain gliadin proteins. Sometimes babies
>are started on formula and cereal very early in life (mine were, I
>didn't have enough milk to feed them, now I think THAT was
>undiagnosed Celiac too). The babies don't have a very developed
>digestive tract, and probably latent Celiac gets triggered by those
>early feedings, maybe because of 'leaky gut' (all babies have leaky
>guts, as I understand it).
>
>In any case, though, I wouldn't 'guilt' yourself. It's a happy thing
>he made it to his 40's and you are both feeling better. MOST
>first-time Moms (and even 2nd and 3rd timers) are tense and unhappy
>but that doesn't seem to affect the babies much. My guess is that if
>he 'inherited' your celiac it's from something more prosiac, like
>something in your blood or milk (and your genes), but there isn't a
>lot you can do about that.


#29

>  Of course  immunity is transferred from mother to fetus.  But we
>are talking ANTIGENS-  gliadin peptides- the poison that attracts
>immune antibodies to the  lining cells of the  small intestine-
>Theoretically, the peptides could reach those intestinal cells
>either via placental transfer from a mother with a gut which is
>allowing  them into her bloodstream and from there into the fetal
>circulation:  or from amniotic fluid which probably also contains
>the peptides from the same source and which amniotic fluid bathes
>the lining of the intestine from the beginning of its (gut)
>inception.  This is what has become clear to me  during  our
>correspondence.
>
>This is where we need expert opinion.


#30

>To date, the view held by some experts on the topic of the
>appearance of celiac disease from day one has led me to believe that
>the development of celiac disease/breast-feeding in our first of 3
>children was unique.  Recent postings have shown that this may not
>necessarily be the case.  I find it impossible to accept the
>espoused "theory" that the presence of anti-gliadin antibodies from
>mother's breast-milk protects an infant from the harmful effects of
>gluten when these same antibodies don't seem to protect adults or
>children with full-blown celiac disease who also have high levels of
>these same anti-gliadin antibodies.
>
>I breast-fed all three children, the only difference being that I
>was not gluten -free during the pregnancy and  breast-feeding  of
>our first child.  However, I would also like to add that while our
>oldest daughter exhibited signs of a gluten intolerance from day one
>(such as diarrhea, projectile vomiting); it was not until she
>received vaccinations at the age of 12 months that her condition
>really took a dramatic turn for the worse i.e. weight loss,
>lethargy, wasting, edema, etc..  At 18 months of age, she
>was FINALLY diagnosed with full-blown celiac disease by bowel
>biopsy.  In talking to another mother on the listserve, she also
>observed that it was not until after the measles/mumps and
>polio vaccination at 12 months of age that her child also followed
>this pattern.  Her child had also had the diarrhea, vomiting from
>day one.
>
>It is impossible to definitely attribute the vaccinations for this
>change - it is the only connection that I can make by looking at her
>baby album which we moms all faithfully adhere to for at least the
>first child.  :-)
>
>On the other hand, our 2 younger children did not exhibit any signs
>of gluten sensitivity until the introduction of  gluten-containing
>cereals at the age of 6 months - I am still of the opinion that this
>is because they were not getting any trace amounts of gluten from
>breast milk or the passage of IgG through the placenta as I was
>gluten-free at that time.  I hope that someday more research will be
>done on this subject.
>
>FWIW, my children are now 27, 20 and 18.  The 20 and 18 year old
>were simply put on the diet after reacting to gluten - with the idea
>that they would go on a gluten challenge and be tested at a later
>date.  Because of their reaction to accidental gluten ingestion this
>has not proven to be a wise option.  Subsequent DNA testing has
>shown they carry two of the genes that put them at high risk of
>developing celiac disease (the same as our oldest child and
>myself).
>
>While having put these 2 children on the diet without testing may be
> frowned upon by many in the medical profession, I am most thankful
>to their pediatrician for having advised this - so far they
>have been without the dental, skin, bone, joint and disc problems
>that their mother and sister have had to deal with.






--

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *