Question by joe schmoe: What is the accuracy of the celiac bloodtest?
Today I got blood test back from a celiac test and it was positive. I’m getting a biopsy soon but I was just curious how accurate these blood test are and what the chances are that I do have the disease? thanks!
Best answer:
Answer by Camellia
You probably won’t get great answers from Y/A on this question. I would suggest that you go to Celiac.com. They have a really great message board and lots of people who are familiar with celiac disease. I have no idea on the accuracy. From what I’ve heard, the biopsy is a better indicator than the blood test. (although I would think that they would still want you to do gluten-free if you have anti-bodies in your blood many specialists say that there are other types of gluten-sensitivity besides celiac disease. but I guess most physicians aren’t experts on it) But really I have no idea. If the biopsy comes back negative, I would still recommend that you try a gluten-free diet for a little while to see if your health improves. It’s worked wonders for many people. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Hi, since they are measuring the antibodies that your body makes to gluten, then it is most likely that you do have celiac. The endoscopy is then necessary to confirm the diagnosis by looking for sprue and to take biopsies to check for blunted or damaged villi.
If you just had the TtG done, then there are other conditions that can cause a high TtG (colitis, for example) but if you had the full panel, then it is likely that you have celiac. False positives are rare, but they can happen.
Go here for one of the best celiac sites out there (this one is US) and an article about the celiac screening blood work:
http://www.celiac.com/articles/57/1/Interpretation-of-Celiac-Disease-Blood-Test-Results/Page1.html
and I agree with the person above, even if the endoscopy comes back negative you have to remember that damage is patchy, and the best course for you to follow is to go gluten free anyway.
My bro has the celiac genes, but not celiac itself. He eats gluten free as well b/c he is classified as a non-celiac, non-allergic gluten sensitive. If he eats gluten he gets very ill, huge migraines, etc. Since going gluten free he feels great! Good luck to you!
P.S Hey Camilla, PLEASE be careful out there with this new flu (you being a nurse and all). You know how much more we are likely to get pneumonia!