<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
Lisa at [log in to unmask] asked:
 
>Does anyone have information on pregnancy and celiac.
 
You might want to consider HLA typing your child from the cord-blood at
birth.  Any lab experienced in genetics work can do this, and since cord
blood is used, its completely non-invasive.  Depending on your own HLA
markers (and your husband's) there is a 50% chance that your child will NOT
share the DR3 marker you probably have, which means he/she should not be
able to ever contract celiac.  This would be nice to know!  I know of one
family that did this on their son, and got exactly this happy result.
 
If the result is the opposite and your child does have the DR3 marker
associated with Celiac (or the DR5/DR7 marker which is related), you may wish
to delay the introduction of gluten into the baby's diet until he/she is much
older.  It is possible that this will reduce the chance the child will ever
develop Celiac (I know of no research to back up this statement, these are
uncharted waters!).
 
Since there have been examples of developmental delays, such as autism or
ADD, aggravated by gluten, if you child has DR3, you might elect a gluten-
free diet until the child is 3 or 4, as these developmental delays are
usually diagnosed before then.
 
One final word of caution:  HLA typing research on Celiac is very strong,
but not perfect.  As I recall, more than 95% of all Celiacs are DR3 or
DR5/7.  Readers interested in further exploring this topic may wish to do a
listserv archives search on "DR3" as there have been several excellent
posts on this topic over the past year.
 
Jim Lyles ........ <[log in to unmask]> ........ Holly, Michigan, USA