Is Celiac Disease Genetic?
Celiac sufferers have long wondered if their condition runs in families, placing their children at risk for the disease. Only in the last few years has it been practical to have genetic testing done… but is it worth it to do so?
Here’s the low-down:
95% of people who are positively diagnosed with celiac disease via alternate methods such as intestinal biopsy also test positive for a particular gene called H.L.A. DQ2. An additional 5% test positive for the gene H.L.A. DQ8. The practical upshot is, if you don’t have either of these genes, you really don’t have to worry about celiac disease.
However, just because you test positive on one or the other of these genes, it doesn’t mean that you have celiac disease. In fact, only about 2 or 3% of people with these genes will get celiac disease. In other words, not having these genes means you don’t have celiac disease. Having these genes means you have a 2-3% chance of having or getting celiac disease.
This means that the greatest value of genetic testing for celiac lies in cases where celiac disease is suspected, but diagnosis is inconclusive. By acting as a reliable indicator that a person does NOT have celiac disease, genetic testing can ease a patient’s mind, and aid in narrowing down the symptoms to other related conditions such as wheat allergy or wheat intolerance.
Since 60-65% of the population do not carry the genes, and therefore do not have celiac disease, genetic testing can greatly reduce the number of suspected celiac cases.
The bottom line? If you have no symptoms, genetic testing is of limited value. But if you do have symptoms and are struggling with an inconclusive diagnosis, genetic testing that is negative for H.L.A. DQ2 and DQ8 can put your mind at ease and free you to pursue other diagnoses such as wheat allergy or wheat intolerance.
More information:
April 14th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Interesting article i totally agree with the comments above. Keep writing
August 6th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Thanks for this article, It was a fantastic read which was very helpful.
August 13th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Known as an autoimmune disorder, the celiac disease can occur mostly in people with a genetic predisposition to it. The test for celiac disease it takes a short time and if you want to either you have or not you have to take it. You should get tested for celiac disease right away if you’re worried you might have it.