Doctors are slow to do coeliac tests
The Public are asking more and more about what tests they need to get to find out about coeliac disease. New Zealand
laboratories vary in the tests they offer, in the ranges of values for these tests and their interpretation. The
medical practitioners are confused, so how can the public be confident in this testing?
Janie’s parents ask, “How come it took ten years for our daughter to get the right diagnosis? Surely, all it takes is a
simple blood test to make the diagnosis of coeliac disease. But her doctors never thought to do the test. Why not!”
It took Janie 13 years to be tested for coeliac disease. She had poor growth, chronic diarrhoea and abdominal pain.
This had all been put down to stress and her weak constitution. In the end, it turned out that she had coeliac disease
which occurs in one in one hundred people (of course it occurs more often in sick people, so the sick people have a much
higher rate of this disease – perhaps one in thirty).
Similar stories are heard repeatedly by Doctor Rodney Ford. He says, “Every day in my clinic I see people with symptoms
of coeliac disease that have been overlooked by my colleagues. How can this be so when coeliac disease is so common?”
His explanation for this is that doctors are usually looking for sick people who have “earned the right” to have a blood
test. They are looking for the classical appearance of coeliac disease (the thin malnourished person with chronic
diarrhoea and a bloated belly). However, modern research shows that there is no such “typical” coeliac. Just about
anyone can have it. Most coeliacs do not have much bowel trouble, but have an assortment of chronic symptoms such as
fatigue, depression and irritable bowel: they feel sick, tired and grumpy!
There are five common misconceptions that Health Professionals may be making:
1- Seldom blood testing their patients
2- Focus on the mythical classic disease
3- Accepting chronic symptoms as “normal” or untreatable
4- Testing only once, forgetting that coeliac disease is progressive in nature
5- Forgetting to test immediate family members who are at high risk
Dr Ford urges the medical community to test their patients much more frequently for coeliac disease. He will be
speaking at the Gluten Free and Allergy Show 23 and 24 May at the Auckland ASB Showground’s. His topic is “The Gluten
Syndrome – the world’s biggest health secret!” He will explain the symptoms, the blood tests, the controversy and the
gluten free diet.
The onset of coeliac disease is slow and progressive. Don’t wait to end stage disease before getting tested. You can
find out a lot more from his webpage: www.DrRodneyFord.co.nz
ends