<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Hello everyone, Here is a summary of the reactions I got in the last two weeks on my question about celiac and shortness/loss of weight. I'm the mother of a 5yo son , length 109 cm (42"), weigth 15,4 kg (34lb). He is not growing well for years, bloodtests give no diagnose for celiac. He reacts very quick on food (diarhhea) and complaints about bellyache and nausea. A 'glutenlow' experiment for 3 weeks was stopped by the pediatrician, because he said: "if you have once been glutenfree, you never can get a proper diagnose again!" Our son is diagnosed autistic, had much earproblems, is very clumsy (disparxy) etcetera. We are wondering why he's still nog growing, while he's notn a bad eater. I want to thank everybody for the reactions. Though I've not had time enough to study everything, I don't want to wait longer with my summary of the reactions: -'it is believed that because of the malabsorption you do not grow (it's a deficiency of the body).' -there's a new group for autistic children whose parents are not giving them gluten or casein: The Autism Network for Dietary Intervention (ANDI), begun by Lisa Lewis and Karyn Seroussi: http://www.AutismNDI.com. Email: [log in to unmask] They sell several (new) books: Lisa Lewis: 'Special Diets for special kids.'. Karyn Seroussi: 'Your gliten and dairy free kitchen'. William Shaw: 'The biological basis of autism and PDD.' -dr. Alessio Fasano (Medic doctor, univ. of Maryland) diagnoses a lot of short children: he's on the list: E-mail: [log in to unmask] -warning for bloodtest: please have at least the antigliadin antibody (IgG, IgA and endomysial. If he's negative for IgA and endomysial and positive for IgG, make sure the lab also tests for the deficiency of IgA. -one mother read in a book that sometimes short stature is the only symptom for celiac. That made her decide to test her twin sons that were not gaining weight, or even lost weight, and complained about stomach ache. They were both diagnosed celiac by biosy. Since the gf diet they are grown 5-6 kg in less than 2 years. -A 54 yo woman (5'2") quit growing at age three, has a biological sister (4'11") says: 'I think that this disease just stalls everything for a while'. -A woman knows an autistic boy feeded by the 'Neanderthin diet'. That includes: meat, fruit, vegetabels, nuts and seeds, removing all potentila allergens and manmade refined products: more info: http://www.sofdesign.com/neander -A mother describes her 4 celiac children, who still are very small: no 1: 22 yo: 4'9", 95 pounds no.2: 13 yo: 4'6", 93 punds no.3: 10 yo: 46", 55 pounds no.4: 7 yo: 45", 52 pounds. 'The children are at least a head smaller than all their friends. The gluten free diet has helped them immens.' -Karoly Horvath (MD/PhD, Center of Celiac Research, Baltimore) mentions 6 reasons for short stature: 1. growth hormone deficiency, 2. chronic organic disease (kidney, liver etc.), 3. short until teenage age, then normal, 4. one of the parents is short, 5. bone anomaly, 6. celiac disease: 'It is known that up to 10% of the short children may have celiac disease.' -On the 1995 Physisians Conference (Gastros.) at Univ. of Maryland they discussed two days about it. A visitor knows: 'Malabsorption contributed grately to the lack of nutrients needed during the early years of growing, until the patient was properly diagnosed as celiac.' -Don Wiss mentions a lecture of dr. A. Fasano at the Celiac Disease Membership in Los Angeles, (may 1995): 'In Europe, reports has been published which state that up to 20% of short stature is due to celiac.' and: The blood serum of children in his growth failure clinic was analyzed for IgG anti-gliadin antibodies. The children who responded well to growth hormone therapy had normal levels of antibodies. Among those who did not respond to growth hormones, a large proportion had high titers of anti-gliadin antibodies; after a biopsy all were found to have celiac disease. Now, at the Univ. of Maryland, children admitted for growth failure, are routinely tested for anti-gliadin antibodies. More info: The Gluten-free page: http://www.panix.com/~donwiss -A woman knows a child with lack of growth: 'after extensive testing she was diagnosed celiac, she was put on a glutenfree diet and within a year her growth began to catch up. Now she's a teenager with normal height. -another mother with a very short 2 1/2 yo son, not diagnosed celiac, but on a glutenfree diet for a year, is trying to figure out why he's still not growing! 'Nutritionists say he gets sufficient calories, vitamins, ect. He also suffers from poor appetite (not bellyache, just desinterest).' Conclusion: I still do not know the answer on my question, but now I know for sure that it is worth investigating further. Seeing so much people handle with the same problems gives me the feeling that there must be a coincidence. It strenghtens me to keep on asking my sons medical doctors to do the right bloodtest or/and biosy, to know for sure. Marca Bultink, Hillegom, The Netherlands; E-mail: [log in to unmask]