PROGRESSIVE TESTING
FOR GLUTEN SENSITIVITY

KENNETH FINE, M.D.

ENTEROLAB, www.enterolab.com, established by Dr. Kenneth Fine, a gastroenterologist who is dedicated to researching Gluten Sensitivity, offers STOOL TESTING that is far more sensitive than blood testing (and thus superior) in detecting this insidious Gluten Sensitivity.  Most of the members of my own family did not test positive on the blood tests, but did on the stool tests.  Many others, including myself, after years of being ‘sick and tired’, have discovered this specialized patented stool testing and have turned their health around with a Gluten-Free (GF) Diet.

The antigliadin antibody is picked up in the stool, since it is produced in the small intestine, long BEFORE it gets into the BLOOD; this is a hugely PREVENTATIVE aspect of doing the stool testing followed by the GF Diet if positive.

“ EARLY DIAGNOSIS of GLUTEN SENSITIVITY:  BEFORE the VILLI are GONE”

This is a most valuable article that will help explain why stool testing is superior to blood testing. It will be found on both of Dr. Fine’s websites.  It is a must read; share it with your doctor. More open-minded doctors will use EnteroLab or you may order the tests yourself.

Go to www.enterolab.com and zero in on his testing page or call 972-686-6869.  Be sure to read his FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and the testimonials.  The whole site is most interesting.  In my experience, everyone who has discovered this stool testing is elated to finally have a diagnosis.

Doing the Gluten Sensitivity Stool and Gene Panel Complete gives you the big picture; it consists of the tTG and AGA: IgA antibody tests, a gene test, a malabsorption test, and milk (casein/dairy protein) sensitivity test. This panel of tests will track down Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance (no gut damage) or Gluten Sensitivity in general.

However, if you want to begin with just the Antigliadin Antibody test, you may then go back, if positive, and do the genetic test (cheek swab) or the malabsorption, tTG or dairy intolerance separately, as the stool samples are kept for 6 weeks.  You get more for the buck if you do the whole panel.  Call them if you have any questions. (I am in no way connected to EnteroLab, I just believe in Dr. Fine’s work).

A positive Antigliadin Antibody (AGA) test

Means you are Gluten Sensitive

And need a strict GF Diet

For future wellness

ENTEROLAB lab is the only lab utilizing this specialized patented stool testing for detecting the Antigliadin Antibody and the tTG before it gets into the blood. If you have had a stool test elsewhere it would be a different test.

ENTEROLAB offers tests for other food cross-reactivity: dairy, soy, egg, and yeast, and more tests are being developed. These other proteins may also cause havoc in the body.

Dr. Fine’s www.finerhealth.com also has the most interesting intestinal info.  He answers many questions about gluten sensitivity and colitis.  Be sure to read, “Who should be screened for gluten sensitivity?” at the bottom of his FAQ’s on Gluten Sensitivity.  You will be amazed by the information on his two websites.

“Stool testing for the antigliadin antibodies is so much more sensitive than blood tests that the antibodies can still be detected in the intestine up to 1-2 years after beginning the GF Diet; this depends on each person’s ability to produce the IgA antibodies,” according to EnteroLab.

Children - According to Dr. Fine, “Stool testing for IgA antibodies can be done as early as 12 months in a symptomatic child and 18 months in an asymptomatic child. This is not true for serum (blood) testing, as serum testing is often falsely negative at any age.”

Immunosuppressants, as well as IgA Deficiency (see: ‘Traditional Testing’), can also affect results of the stool tests.

If the malabsorption test shows that you are not absorbing fats, this could mean that your villi are flattened and damaged to some degree.  Most in my family did not test positive on the blood tests, but did test positive on Dr. Fine’s stool test.  Most of us chose not to do the endoscopy (which generally requires a positive blood test).  The malabsorption test said I was malabsorbing about 30%.  I knew by the test (and the fatigue and the state of my health) that my villi were flat without subjecting myself to a somewhat invasive and expensive procedure.  You do have a choice here (on the endoscopy) if you wish to exercise it. 

The real proof, however, lies

In your response to the GF Diet

One daughter who was negative on the blood tests and negative on the endoscopy, yet fading away, was positive on the antigliadin antibody test. Needless to say we were most thankful to get a diagnosis through the stool testing, and the biopsy was of no use.

Stool testing at EnteroLab is “out of pocket,” but ask for the proper receipts as it may be retroactively covered.  It will be the best money you have ever spent if you are “sick and tired of being sick and tired,” and especially if you have gotten nowhere with the blood tests.

ARISTO VOJDANI, Ph.D., M.T.

Dr. Vojdani, of Immunosciences Lab., Inc., did an investigation on a wide array of tissue antibodies and cross-reactive food testing. The array assessment is not available clinically at this time. For more information and an audio presentation, go to www.theglutensyndrome.net and check under “Lab Test Charts” and “New Medical Diagrams.” His research clearly links gluten and other cross-reactive proteins to autoimmune diseases, and he asserts that many of these diseases can be identified years before they manifest themselves clinically.