Genetics don’t diagnose celiac disease. They do, however, clarify whether an individual is “at-risk” for it. If this is the case, you should closely monitor your symptoms and submit to blood tests every 2-3 years or immediately upon the onset of symptoms. When the genetic predisposition for celiac disease was detected (on Chromosome 6) researchers noted that the genes were a necessary but not sufficient condition for the disease to develop. In fact, up to 1/3 of the U.S. population has the genes for celiac disease. Meaning, those who have the DQ2 or DQ8 gene can develop celiac disease at any time, but only about 5% of those people actually will.
↧