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You have Celiac Disease. Does that mean your kids have it too?


If you have Celiac Disease and you recently had a child, you may be wondering if you passed the disease onto your child. After all, we all know that Celiac Disease is an inherited autoimmune disease. I inherited Celiac Disease from my grandmother.

Now that I have a child of my own, one of the first things I worried about is that I passed the Celiac gene to him. I told my son's pediatrician that Celiac does run in the family and that I have it. I expressed general concern that my son might have the gene. My son's pediatrician told me that they usually do those types of tests in a few years, so it's something they will probably test for when he turns 3, unless symptoms become present (luckily, he's been handling gluten foods pretty well).

Anyways, I did some research on genetic risks and found out that the general incidence of Celiac Disease is around 1%. If there is a family history of Celiac (and if a first degree relative has been officially diagnosed with it), the likelihood of your child developing it ranges from 4-16%.
If you have Celiac and you're a new parent, it's advised that you continue your regular appointments and screenings.
It is also advised that you do not remove gluten from your child's diet before testing. As you all know, removing gluten from your diet before being tested will give you an inaccurate result. With CD, you don't want your kids to have an inaccurate test result.

What tests will they do on your child?
  • tTG
  • EMA
  • DGP
  • Total serum IgA
  • Endoscopy to confirm diagnosis

What about genetic testing?
  • All testing will do is determine whether your child has the genes needed for Celiac Disease development.
  • Also, a positive result does not mean that Celiac is present. One-third of the general population has the Celiac genes. All it means is that the illness could develop, and if you have the illness, your child will need to be screened regularly.
  • A negative genetic test result means that your child does not have Celiac Disease.  
Mamas, whatever the case may be, hang in there. Be strong for your child. You got this.

 #CeliacDisease #Celiac #GlutenFree #GF #GlutenFreeDiet #Genetics #Health #kids #celiackids


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