can babies be tested?

[Guest guest]

I was just at the ped's office for my son's 9 month check up. I didn't

see my reg. ped., but this one suggested getting a celiac panel done

for son, even though he has not had any gluten introduced in his diet

yet. She said something about the ttg being able to tell us whether he

has celiac as well. I have had my celiac panel done, and to be honest,

don't understand it, other than I am double gened. Can someone let me

know if the celiac panel is worthwhile for a 9 mos old, or is it an

unnecessary blood draw at this time?

Thanks,

Jill

[Guest guest]

To the best of my knowledge, the only test you can do for celiac

on anyone who is not eating gluten is the genetic test (this can only rule out

CD, not diagnose it). I have never heard of the ttg being useful on someone

who is Gf, even a baby. This is not to say things haven’t changed, or

this could be something I haven’t heard about (if so, I would like to

know what you find out!), but I would suggest you ask more questions about this

test or consult another MD. Ask if the test is to detect antibodies in

your child’s blood, and if so, how those antibodies would be there if the

child is not consuming gluten. If it is to detect something else, ask

where you can get more information about the test; what is being tested, how

accurate is it, is it specific to celiac disease, etc.

Is your son having symptoms? Why does she want to do this

test?

Pam Newbury

Santa Cruz Celiac Support Group

From:

[mailto: ] On

Behalf Of jillerscroft

Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 1:58 PM

Subject: [ ] can babies be tested?

I was just at the ped's office for my son's 9

month check up. I didn't

see my reg. ped., but this one suggested getting a celiac panel done

for son, even though he has not had any gluten introduced in his diet

yet. She said something about the ttg being able to tell us whether he

has celiac as well. I have had my celiac panel done, and to be honest,

don't understand it, other than I am double gened. Can someone let me

know if the celiac panel is worthwhile for a 9 mos old, or is it an

unnecessary blood draw at this time?

Thanks,

Jill