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Hello

Thank you to the few people that replied to my e-mail requesting information
about celiac testing in Canada.

Here are the replies:

She can take the Enterolab stool test, which I understand is one of, if not
*the* most sensitive one available. It does not require a biopsy, but rather
a stool sample and you can order it online. I know someone in Canada who
recently took it. She also took the gene test from enterolab and found she
not only had a high number of antigliadin antibodies but also had the
"celiac genes". Unfortunately, she was also positive for cow milk allergy,
which apparently is quite common among the gluten sensitive/celiacs.

www.enterolab.com

Go to the Canadian Celiac Assoc. web site at http://www.celiac.ca and click
on chapters and scroll down to Kingston Chapter. There is an address and a
phone number there.


Your Mom should get the tTg blood test no problem through her regular
doctor. It's covered under our regular medicare here, but someone told me
that's not the case in all parts of Canada.

If it comes back positive or if she shows clinical symptoms of celiac,
she'd be referred on to a GI doc for the biopsy same as in the US. Not sure
about the situation in Ontario, but here the doctors have started to rely
only on the tTg which I understand is  not always accurate [you can get
false negatives].

The Canadian Celiac Assoc. website is at http://www.celiac.ca/ I'm sure
they could help your Mom if she has further questions (& I think they are
based in Ontario so would be up to snuff on the situation there!)

Here is a great site with some great links:  http://www.celiac.ca/

Here are the local chapters - there is one listed here for Kingston:
http://www.celiac.ca/echptr.html

Also - see:

http://www.penny.ca/Celiac-canada.htm

I know of people in Toronto with Celiac (Kingston is not far away) - the
hospitals here are among the best in the world - and as long as her GP is
well informed the testing will be on par.

Thanks
Maureen
Austin Texas

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