Summary - Enterolab for Celiac Stool testing

Thanks so much for all the replies I got to my question about the
reliablity of Enterolab. In summary,
27 of 29 respondents felt VERY POSITIVE about their experience with
Enterolab. The following is a list of what people said about it with the
number that responded in like fashion in bold after each comment.

Positive comments about Enterolab

* Several referred me to the earlier summary by <steven.h@ATT.NET>
* Mentionned the usefulness of the food sensitivity tests done at
Enterolab - 4
* Reported that they and/or family members (in several cases it was
many family members) had received false negative testing through
blood tests, but had positive tests with Enterolab. Most
mentionned that the positive diagnosis was verified by the persons
health improvements on the gluten free diet. -8
* Reported that blood testing seemed to get accurate results if the
intestimes were completely atrophied, but questionned whether
blood testing is accurate before intestines are atrophied -1
* Reported having negative test results from Enterolabs for family
members who had no health issues, thereby further supporting the
reliability of the tests -3
* Reported that the test results varied from family member to family
member, suggesting that Enterolab diagnoses celiac judiciously - 2
* Suggested e-mailing Enterolabs for help on choosing which tests to
get -1
* Mentionned the usefulness of the gene testing for Celiac which is
done at Enterolab - 6
* Were referred to Enterolab by health care professionals - 3
* Were told "There is not yet enough data to prove the value of
Enterolab testing" from their physician - 1
* Had Blood test results that matched the Enterolab results - 1
* Said the lab was knowledgable and responsive - 4
* Said good things about Dr Fine, his responsiveness and his work - 2
* Suggested retesting at Enterolab after a period of time if someone
tests "just below the cutoff"-1
* Mentionned the difficuty of doing a challenge test for gluten if
one has been off it and wants to do the blood or endoscopy for
diagnosis. 1
* Mentionned how simple it is to collect a stool sample, even for
kids -1

Two replies questionned the validity of Enterolab.

* One cited conferences where experts spoke about the unreliablity
of the celiac diagnosis, 1
* One said there is no published support for the validity of
Enterolabs for gluten sensitivity and that he/she considers
Enterolab NOT medically valid. 1

Based on these responses I've ordered tests for eight family members,
all of whom deal with celiac like symptoms. Very impatient to get the
results!

Thanks again,

Jeannie

*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the Celiac List*