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Linda Blanchard wrote:

> Jim Lyles, you mentioned that you did not have celiac disease ("yet")
> but had been diagnosed as genetically predisposed to the disease. How
> was this diagnosis arrived at, please?

I'm not sure if "diagnosis" is the right term, actually.  However, I'll try
to explain my understanding of celiac disease susceptibility.  Note that I
am not a medical expert, so I might not have this completely right.

What I've heard is that there are two factors involved in celiac disease:
  1) You have to be genetically predisposed towards it.
  2) Some environmental factor (a virus, stress, pregnancy, surgery, etc.)
     has to "trigger" the disease.  Once triggered, it is a lifelong
     condition that can be completely controlled by a gluten-free diet.

I underwent a relatively new blood test that looks for specific genes
associated with celiac disease.  This test came back positive for me.  It
would appear that I have item 1), but item 2) has not happened yet and
may never happen for me.

Note that this test does NOT determine if you have celiac disease.  The
more typical IgA & IgG antibody tests are indicators of untreated celiac
disease; the gene-typing test is not.  However, the gene-typing test
may be useful in determining whether or not you could develop celiac
disease in the future.  I believe that a negative result on the
gene-typing test indicates you have virtually no chance of developing
celiac disease.  (I'm assuming the test is fairly accurate.)

The gene-typing test, which I believe is also called HLA-typing, costs
about $350 if my memory is correct.

                   --- Jim Lyles ([log in to unmask]) ---