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From:
"John E. Cornell" <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 8 Nov 1996 13:55:19 EST
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<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
When celiacs are eating a "normal" diet (i.e., getting poisoned by at
that nasty stuff in a wheateater's diet) their stools often have an
abnormally high fat level, and a very unsophisticated test is to see if
it will float - greasy, fatty stools float, while normal stools sink.
 
This is, of course, an unsophisticated test, and if the celiac is 1) not
eating stuff which annoys their gut or 2) doesn't have much fat in their
diet, the test is not very useful,   as there are many other things which
can cause "floaters" and "sinkers" without regard to celiac.
Accordingly,  the utility of this test as a screen for celiac is low.
 
It is, however, a cheap test, and better than no test at all.
 
I'm sure our Doctor friends on this list can give a more exhaustive
answer, but this is what I've learned about the stool test through
reading the medical literature which I can understand.  I'm not a doctor,
and don't even play that I'm  one on TV.
 
John E. Cornell - Rockville, MD
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