<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
Debbie Fusco <[log in to unmask]> said:
 
>My 6 year old was diagnosed with CD 2.5 years ago after
>being very ill. ...Today he is a healthy happy vibrant child.
 
>My concern is for our 12 month old baby.  To this point, we have kept her
>GF because I believe growth at this early point in life is so critical.
>Her doctor is now recommending we start introducing gluten and perform
>the blood tests to screen her for CD in about 3 months. .... the pediatrician
>is leading me to believe that if the tests come back negative, that means
>the baby will never have CD.
>I thought it could be dorminant for years and appear at anytime.
 
>Will the blood tests tell me anything if it is in the dorminant stage?
 
>From my reading as a listowner, I can report the following information:
 
1) Even if your baby's blood tests/biopsy are negative, CD can appear later
in life.  Your doctor is wrong (if you understood him/her correctly). All
that negative blood tests/biopsy can show is that CD is not currently active.
 
2) There are more false negatives on the blood tests for children under
two years of age.  You would need a biopsy to confirm no current CD.
For more details, send an email to [log in to unmask]
with the body GET CELIAC DIAG-TST.
 
3) If you have your child HLA typed, you may discover that it is
essentially impossible that she will ever get CD in that she does not
carry the at-risk HLA markers.  Depending on you and your husband's
markers, there is probably about a 50% chance that she is NOT at risk.
For more details, send an email to [log in to unmask] with
the body GET CELIAC CEL-HLA.  HLA typing is done via blood test.
Naturally, if she is not at-risk, you could begin a gluten diet immediately.
 
4) There is probably a 50% chance that she DOES carry the at-risk
HLA markers.  My 13 month old baby does, and we will be keeping him on
a GF diet until he is at least two years old, perhaps longer.  While there
is no evidence that this will prevent CD (it may just postpone the onset),
at least he will not have it during the most critical period for maturation
of the nervous system and other critical elements of his body.
 
Bill Elkus
Los Angeles