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Summary 2 Iritis, Uveitis and CD  (Continued)
12.  (Continued from a previous note) 
As far as your brother's blood tests being negative, there are false negatives all the time.  Furthermore, if he did not have a "total serum IgA" done as well, then he has no idea if the blood tests could even be positive.  Many Dr's neglect to run that VERY IMPORTANT TEST.  Basically, if you don't make IgA, then the main tests for Celiac Disease CANNOT come out positive, because they are testing for an elevation of IgA.
I do not know why his Dr. would not take biopsies of his small intestine during an endoscopy.  Pictures are not used to determine celiac disease.  CD is a microscopic disease and most times CANNOT be seen on visual inspection. (which is why it is common practice to take a minimum of biopsies from each area scoped).
I would tell him to ask for copies of the bloodwork from his Dr.  Another blood test is something easy to do.  If it can give him answers, maybe he can avoid another bout of lymphoma/Hodgekins and further bone loss.
This person has had epi scleritis and blepheritis twice (inflammation of the lid margins).  She is blood and biopsy diagnosed celiac and has Crohn's Disease (small bowel) as well.
13.  Don't know about iritis but my husband had papillaedema of the optic nerve head where it connects to the back of the eye, visable on the retina.    This is a swelling and distortion at that spot on the retina which affects visual field.  This person's daughter almost died of celiac then family was screened because daughter had two genes for celiac (one from Mom and one from Dad).  Read in the Merck Manual that papillaedema can be a sign of calcium deficiency, and daughter had rickets (from the celiac).  Husband was borderline positive and his mother with MS was wildly high positive.  Husband went off gluten and has been taking the rickets dose of cal/mag/D/bone meal-for phosphorus and optic nerve edema is slowly but steadily improving over a 2-3 year period.  We learned more from the Merck Manual than we did from the doctors.  The library has it or you can buy a copy in Barnes and Noble for $10 in paperback.  We have learned that almost any crazy thing can be affected by celia
c and we have quite a list.
14.  Have a gut feeling that eye docs are missing the connection between eye problems and celiac disease/gluten sensitivity.  I have started a thread in the gluten sensitivity/celiac disease forum of Braintalk Communities.
http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=88287
I will also add to the tread that IBD has been connected to Iritis
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list uids=10626484&query hi=348itool=pubmed docsum  
Is it possible that these problems are gluten/casein related?
Found this that says uveitis cured by gf diet!  Too bad there is no abstract.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
cmd=Retrieve&db=Pubmed&list uids=7590010&dopt-Abstract  

Thank you again to all who responded to my questions.  I  will talk to my brother again when he returns from vacation.
Again, any further information and comments would be welcome and I will add another summary if  I receive any more information.  

Robin in Massachusetts

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