[york soldat]

I had an IGA of 69. Is that the same as Celiac? I have been on a gluten free diet and had improvement but still sick. Are there some medications or a transfusion I can take?

Thanks for any help

[jccgf]

I had an IGA of 69. Is that the same as Celiac? I have been on a gluten free diet and had improvement but still sick. Are there some medications or a transfusion I can take?

If you are talking about total IgA, no it is not the same as celiac disease, although people with below range IgA do have an increased prevalence of celiac disease.

If you are talking about anti-tTG IgA... having those antibodies is 95% predictive of celiac disease.

Doctors are only really concerned about IgA deficiency if you are extremely low (like < 7). Then it is called total IgA deficiency and the main concern I have found is it could cause problems if you ever needed a transfusion. But, this is only a problem in people who have extremely low (<7) or absent IgA. People with IgA deficiency are more prone to infections and food sensitivity.

Here are some articles about it...
http://www.primaryimmune.org/publica...ats/e_ch04.pdf
http://cvi.asm.org/cgi/content/full/9/6/1295


My daughter has slightly below range IgA. She also has gluten/casein sensitivity, and more than her fair share of upper respiratory infections and UTI's.