Featuring Dr. David Israel, BSc, MD, FRCPC

Diagnosis of Celiac Disease Duration: 1 minute, 13 seconds

Well, the diagnosis of celiac disease today become much simpler than whatever in the past.

There is a very good screening test, which is a blood test, that is accurate about 98 percent of the time. It still leave some unknown, two percent, and when we deal with the whole population, two percent can be a large number, so you really want to nail it down.

So if your screen is positive, you should have an endoscopy and tissue diagnosis because the main impact of celiac disease is on the intestine, and the diagnosis is by small bowel biopsies.

One of the things that is very important of course is to stay on the regular diet that has caused this condition. If you suspect celiac disease and exclude the three grains from the diet, it will be almost impossible or very difficult to confirm the diagnosis.

And we think that it's very important that the diagnosis is very firm for the long-term treatment. So if you have a question, contact your dr, discuss, and stay on the diet until the diagnosis is clear one way or the other.

Presenter: Dr. David Israel, Pediatrician, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Pediatrician