- When a family member has celiac disease, Mayo Clinic researchers recommend parents, siblings and children also be tested, after a new study suggests first-degree relatives frequently have the condition, too - often without typical symptoms.
But Dr. Ritu Verma, medical director of the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, said the data validate what she sees in the clinic. But Absah notes that in recent years, a fair number of patients have been diagnosed who didn't have classic symptoms, which include weight loss and chronic diarrhea in adults, or stunted growth in children.
Absah and colleagues studied 104 patients with celiac disease, who altogether had 477 first-degree relatives. Of the 360 relatives who agreed to have the blood test, 160 were diagnosed with the disease, at an average age of 32.Absah notes that blood tests are cheaper than genetic tests, which only tell whether someone's at risk for developing the disease, not whether they actually have it.
However, doctors advise against following a gluten-free diet merely because a family member has been diagnosed.
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