Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Vanessa Maltin Weisbrod
    Vanessa Maltin Weisbrod

    Prick a Finger and Save a Life: How YOU Can Make a Difference in Celiac Disease Research

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.

    Journal of Gluten Sensitivity Autumn 2012 Issue

    Prick a Finger and Save a Life: How YOU Can Make a Difference in Celiac Disease Research - Image: CC--PROIntel Free Press
    Caption: Image: CC--PROIntel Free Press

    Celiac.com 11/11/2017 - (NOTE: This article is from 2012 and is being made available as Celiac.com rolls our past issues of Journal of Gluten Sensitivity) It's just like being a little kid with a super sore throat and your mom taking you to the doctor to get a test for strep throat. The doctor swabs your throat with two sticks to find out what nasty bacteria is camping out. In just moments you've got a diagnosis of strep throat and can start antibiotics to miraculously make the pain go away. You go home with a prescription, get in bed and eat mom's homemade chicken rice soup until you feel better in a couple of days. How cool would it be if getting diagnosed with celiac disease was this easy?

    The wonderful news is that we're getting closer to having a test that will diagnose celiac disease with just a simple prick of a finger and a 10-minute wait. The CeliacSure Test Kit measures (anti-tTG) IGA antibodies from a fingertip blood sample. It works by taking a small drop of blood, mixing it with a buffer and applying the mixture onto a test cartridge. Within moments two red lines appear if the test is positive, while only one line appears if the result is negative. And, you can take the test at home without ever getting out of your pajamas!

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
    "The test kit is a point-of-care, at-home test that's very similar to reading results of a pregnancy test," said Dr. Daniel Leffler of the Celiac Disease Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Leffler, a gastroenterologist by training with a background in nutrition, has a long-standing interest in celiac disease. Several years ago he teamed up with Dr. Ciaran Kelly and Dietitian Melinda Dennis to found the Celiac Disease Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where they focus not only on providing top notch patient care, but also on high level disease research. The latest project: studying the efficacy of the CeliacSure test for celiac disease diagnosis.

    Dr. Leffler said his team got involved with the finger prick test study because they feel it's important to take down barriers to patients getting diagnosed with celiac disease. "We do a lot with educating other medical providers about offering in-clinic testing, but I think it's really important to put a tool in the hands of the people."

    "We've teamed up with the [marketers] of the test kit at GlutenPro/Biocard CeliacSure Test to see how effective this test is in the USA. We're providing 2 kits per family to use on first-degree relatives of people with celiac disease. To qualify, participants in the study must not be on a gluten-free diet. We send them the test kit to take as well as a survey about their ability to use and understand the test. The goal is that this small study comes out favorable [sic] so we can move on to large scale studies that will compare the finger prick test to the gold standard laboratory serology testing."

    Dr. Leffler says he's really excited about the potential of this point-of-care test because it will "allow us to reach a population that might not otherwise come in to get tested, mainly first degree relatives of patients already diagnosed with celiac disease."

    It's important to note that right now the CeliacSure test is only for research purposes, not actual diagnosis. It is available in Canada and other countries, but it's still under evaluation here in the United States. And, while the strep throat analogy is a great way to think about how this test will work, it's extremely important to understand that if you get a positive result with the CeliacSure test, do not start a gluten-free diet until you have followed up with a doctor to confirm the diagnosis.

    As with all medical studies there's some fine print you need to know about. Participants in the study must meet all of the following criteria:

    1. Over the age of 18
    2. A first or second degree relative with celiac disease
    3. Not previously diagnosed with celiac disease
    4. Not on a gluten-free diet or low-gluten diet within the past 3 months
    5. Able and willing to self administer the test, complete a short survey form and return both in the envelope provided
    6. Willingness to have follow up medical evaluation in the event of a positive test
    7. A resident of the United States

    Listen to a full interview with Dr. Leffler about the CeliacSure study on the Hold the Gluten Podcast (http://traffic.libsyn.com/holdthegluten/050_HoldTheGluten-05Apr2012.mp3) with Vanessa Maltin Weisbrod and Maureen Stanley now! And, if you would like to participate in the study, please contact Dr. Toufic Kabbani at celiac@bidmc.harvard.edu or by phone at 617-667-0528.



    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Guest Peg

    Interesting, but now it's almost 2018 and I've heard nothing more about this.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites


    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Donate
  • About Me

    Vanessa Maltin Weisbrod

    Vanessa Maltin Weisbrod is the Executive Editor of Delight Gluten-Free Magazine, an international publication geared towards people with food allergies, celiac disease and other medical conditions relating to food. In addition to the magazine, Vanessa also consults for a variety of gluten-free food manufactures and is an active member of the Advisory Board of the Celiac Disease Center at Children’s National Medical Center.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Related Articles

    Scott Adams
    J Pediatr 2000;137:356-366.
    Celiac.com 10/10/2000 - Researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver have determined that transglutaminase (TG) antibodies in asymptomatic children are 70% to 83% predictive of biopsy evidence of celiac disease, and may identify children who are likely to develop the disease, as reported in the September issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.
    Dr. Edward J. Hoffenberg and colleagues studied 30 asymptomatic children who had a genetic risk for celiac disease to determine the relationships between TG antibody titer, small bowel histology, growth, and clinical features of celiac disease. Using the Marsh System to grade the small bowel histology Dr. Hoffenberg that out of 30 children with a positive TG antibody test result ...


    Scott Adams
    Wahab PJ, Meijer JW, Mulder CJ.
    Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem, The Netherlands.
    Am J Clin Pathol 118(3):459-463, 2002
    Celiac.com 10/28/2002 - The following study strongly supports follow-up care and testing for people with celiac disease. As the study found, over 10% of people with diagnosed celiac disease have still not fully recovered even after five years of treatment.
    To assess histologic recovery in response to gluten withdrawal in celiac disease, 158 patients seen in our hospital during a 15-year period underwent follow-up small intestine biopsies (SIBs) within 2 years after starting a gluten-free diet; further SIBs were done if villous atrophy was present. A modified Marsh classification was used (IIIA, partial villous atrophy...


    Scott Adams
    J Clin Gastroenterol. 2003 Nov-Dec;37(5):387-91
    Tursi A, Brandimarte G, Giorgetti GM.
    Celiac.com 11/18/2003 - According to the results of an Italian study neither anti-transglutaminase (tTG) nor Anti-endomysium (EMA) antibody levels should be used to determine the state of recovery of gluten-free celiacs. The study looked at 42 consecutively biopsy and blood antibody diagnosed celiac disease patients who went on gluten-free diets, and were then evaluated at 6, 12, and 18 months using anti-transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies and EGDscopy (multiple bioptic samples). For comparison sorbitol H2-breath tests (H2-BT) and anti-endomysium (EMA) antibody tests were also carried out. The results:

    (A)nti-tTG and EMA were ineffective in assessing the histologic recovery at each follow...


    Jefferson Adams
    New Blood Test May Change the Way We Diagnose Celiac Disease
    Celiac.com 08/28/2017 - After 14-day gluten challenge, an HLA-DQ-gluten tetramer blood test provides better detection of celiac disease than biopsy. Can that lead to new disease detection methods in patients who are already on a gluten-free diet?
    Doctors attempting to diagnose celiac disease are often confronted by patients who have already given up gluten. For such patients, diagnostic guidelines currently call for a gluten challenge of at least 14 days, followed by duodenal biopsy. There isn't much good data on how many false-positive results are generated by this method. To get a better picture, a team of researchers recently studied responses to 14-day gluten challenge in subjects with treated celiac disease.
    The research team included Vikas K Sarna, Gry I Skodje, Henrik M Reims...


  • Recent Activity

    1. - glucel replied to Bindi's topic in Super Sensitive People
      30

      Refractory or super sensitive?

    2. - cristiana replied to jadeceoliacuk's topic in Doctors
      3

      How to choose a Naturopath for 6yr old

    3. - jadeceoliacuk replied to jadeceoliacuk's topic in Doctors
      3

      How to choose a Naturopath for 6yr old

    4. - Wheatwacked replied to Gluten is bad's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      7

      Gluten Free ADHD medications

    5. - pasqualeb replied to pasqualeb's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      13

      Muscle atrophy in legs


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      125,908
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Pamayflower
    Newest Member
    Pamayflower
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.9k
    • Total Posts
      69k

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Popular Now

    • Gluten is bad
      7
    • gemknorodo
      5
    • Pua
      9
    • pasqualeb
      13
    • gregoryC
  • Popular Articles

    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
  • Upcoming Events

×
×
  • Create New...