Originally Posted by glenntaj

--pabb is probably commenting on the rather Caucasian features in the picture.

Genetically speaking, while celiac/gluten intolerance is more widespread than previously thought, it is still most common in those of Northern and Western European descent. (Such people have a genetic background that makes them prone to all sorts of autoimmune syndromes.) People with blue eyes and fair complexions should probably be tested immediately, though testing should not be limited to them.

With frank celiac, the villi of the small intestine can be damaged sufficiently that all sorts of malabsorption symptoms can occur, and yet many people with such damage are otherwise only slightly symptomatic or asymptomatic, until nutrient malabsorption triggers a cascade.

We have had some people on these boards who have said, at least insofar as B12 levels are concerned, that they only had small, nagging symptoms until some point at which they tripped and began to deteriorate rapidly. Our beloved Rose, who really began a lot of the threads here and on Braintalk on her problems with B12 deficiency, and who did a lot of research into the subject, was one. She was lucky to emerge relatively intact--she was misdiagnosed for a long time. (And part of the reason for that, as she and others have pointed out, was that her B12 levels were being interpreted as "normal", as your 260 was--those lower range limits, most of us agree, are much too low.) You can read her story and a lot about B12 here:

http://roseannster.googlepages.com/home

Another person who has had an interesting B12 history is Cara (jccglutenfree), most likely due to gluten sensitivity (her family is full of people with malabsorption problems, due to gluten and other factors. Cara invented the Gluten File, probably the most comprehensive database on the subject yet accumulated, and it's definitely worth reading some of that material:

http://jccglutenfree.googlepages.com/