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New blood test may diagnose gluten sensitivity after a single meal

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Geekz Snow
New blood test may diagnose gluten sensitivity after a single meal

Gluten, the simple wheat protein found in a vast number of processed food products, causes a serious reaction in a small percentage of people who consume it.

At this point in time, celiac disease — the name for the autoimmune condition triggered by gluten — is diagnosed by looking for certain antibodies and via an invasive procedure that takes a biopsy of the small intestines.

Celiac disease is a serious condition that is too often overlooked until it causes other health problems, including vitamin deficiencies and eventual nerve damage.

The solution to celiac disease is eliminating gluten from one’s diet, but this can’t be done until after a blood test has been performed to look for antibodies associated with the disease.

This is a problem for sufferers who may have already eliminated gluten from their diet out of suspicion of celiac disease — in order for the blood test to work, the patient must start eating gluten again, leading to an autoimmune response that produces antibodies.

In many cases, the patient must eat gluten for weeks or months before the test is accurate.

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Geekz Snow
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