Thanks to scientific advancement, celiac disease can be uncovered with the help of genetic testing!Gluten intolerance is increasingly identified as the chief cause of chronic stomach aches, intestinal issues, and mysterious allergies. In order to narrow down on gluten intolerance as the main cause of the above complaints, we first carry through a stool examination, searching for gluten antibodies. If positive, we take blood for the identification of antibodies. Only if this test comes back positive we take a tissue sample from the patient's small intestine. 

As treatment, we suggest a gluten-free diet (diet counselling is a speciality of our practice) which we will work out together with you. Gluten free diets are uncomplicated and easy to achieve, but they do require your cooperation.
In 99% of the cases we have treated so far, we diagnosed gluten intolerance rather than celiac disease, which only three of our patients have been diagnosed with. We then suggested a completely gluten-free diet which brought about noticeable improvements of most of the patients' complaints. The medical care and support we provide has thus been successful.

Since 2007, ten European countries have been conducting research on celiac disease, involving 1,000 infants. The goal of this study is to define how celiac disease can be prevented. Infants are included in this survey if parents or siblings have been diagnosed with the disease.

Genetic testing (for newborns, cord blood is used, for infants and children up to three years a smear of the mouth mucosa) establishes whether or not a child carries the genes HLA-DQ2 and DQ8, which are celiac disease's risk genes. If the test comes back positive, the child is included in the study. Once the participants are five or six months old, one half of the children is fed gluten as part of a supplementary diet, while the other half is not. The children are randomly put in their respective group and neither parents nor staff know which group each child is in.  
At seven months, all children are fed gluten as part of their supplementary diet. If possible, all of them should be breastfed. Over three years, the researchers take seven probes of breast milk and seven blood samples from the children. Twelve surveys with dietary questions are administered to the participating family, and all family members will undergo genetic testing.

About 700 babies are currently participating in the study. Out of 60 babies being tested, 51 have been diagnosed as carriers of HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8. Out of all participants, two babies have been diagnosed with celiac disease.
If you as a parent are interested in your child participating in the study, please contact:
Dr. von Hauner'sches Kinderspital München, Prof. Dr. med. Sibylle Koletzko, Department of gastroenterology and hepatology (Abteilung für Gastroenterologie und Hepatologie), Tel.: 0 89-51 60 79 31; E-Mail: zoeliakie(at)med.uni-muenchen.de, Website: www.preventceliacdisease.com