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Hahahahahaha! Not thin and too old! That makes me giggle. I'm 58 and not
thin and I have it!  So does my sister. She's 62. We just happen to have
found foods that we CAN eat that keep our weight up. What idiot doctors!

The researchers at the Celiac Sprue Research Foundation are just about to
publish a paper on results of a recent clinical trial that shows the blood
tests are not accurate for those who have eaten gluten for two weeks prior
to the tests.  Since the paper is not yet published, I shouldn't talk about
it.  When it is published, I'll post the information to the listserv for
you and your friends to read.

I'm not sure about the gluten part of your question, but I do know the "too
thin" and "too old" ideas are WRONG.  A friend of ours was diagnosed at 65
years of age.  This wasn't something she had through all those years.  It
was triggered at that age.  You can also be heavy and have Celiac
Disease.  That's the story with my sister-in-law.  She actually used to be
almost obese, but had that gastric bypass surgury several years ago and has
lost lots of weight.  But she was large with Celiac.
Hope that helps.

The doctor who told her that knows absolutely nothing about celiac disease

Neither is true.  I have T-1 diabetes(71), DH(92) and CD(96) and I will be
65 this month.
The dermatologist didn't have a clue in 92 and told me I would have to take
dapsone for
the rest of my life.  I even told him that I was on a "whole wheat" diet
because of my diabetes.
The only thing that saved me was an article in Diabetes Forecast in August
of 96 entitled
*Wheat is Your problem* by Jean Guest.  It's like the article had been
written about me
because I had all the classic symptoms of CD.  I took the article to a GI
doctor and got diagnosed with CD.
It took 3 years on a g/f diet before I quit breaking out.  I was his first
patient and he
works at the Medical University of SC (MUSC)

Michael Thorn posted this but I have seen it before.

Study of trends in celiac disease
<<http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/acog-sot102604.php>http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/acog-sot102604.php>
EurekAlert - Washington,DC,USA
ORLANDO (November 1, 2004)--Patients are receiving initial diagnosis of
celiac disease at an older age and with a shorter duration of symptoms,
according to a ...

They need a new doctor! It is obvious this one does not understand the
disease

I couldn't help chuckle when you said one of your friend's doctors said she
was too old to have celiac disease.  After years of suffering from what I
now know was CD, I was finally diagnosed last April at age 68.  I was told
I probably had this all my life and now that my body is aging, the symptoms
intensified.  I would suggest your friend be re-evaluated.

 >From my understanding as a medical student answer to your question depends
upon which blood tests they had. Certain antibodies have a lifespan short
enough to be affected by eating little gluten prior to testing, others do
not. Sounds like they have a "great" doctor (ha ha).

Too thin or too old????????

Tell her to get a new doctor.

If you ingest NO gluten before the test, 24 to 48 hrs before, the test results
are NOT accurate.

"little" gluten should not affect results

I would suggest you to ask your question at the Delphi CD
Forum:
<http://forums.delphiforums.com/celiac/start>http://forums.delphiforums.com/celiac/start


There are very kind & knowledgeable people there, doctors included.
Moreover, I have posted thousands of GF recipes, among them my "Best of
Mireille":
<http://forums.delphiforums.com/celiac/messages?msg=14862.2>http://forums.delphiforums.com/celiac/messages?msg=14862.2

I talked to Dr. Kent at the CSA Conference, and he said his oldest newly
diagnosed celiac was 88.  Is she older than that?  I know what you mean,
though, as my father's doctor refuses to test him as he's 'too' old at 84.
The doctor needs some education.

I don't know about how much gluten you have to be eating before.  I never
liked bread very much and ate very little gluten before my diagnosis, but I
had some major intestinal damage by then and a positive blood test.

More to come....

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