Immunoglobulin E antibody presence is the only meaningful definition for "allergic" in the literature. You are right, there are different degrees of immune system response w/r to IgE response. But no IgE? Not allergic -- probably intolerant -- may have something else.
Lots of things people say/think they are allergic to, they are actually intolerant of.
I'm not putting down Dangerous Grains, only cautioning that many people improperly self-diagnose. The authors are recognized practitioners in allergy medicine. I forget some of the the terms off-hand, but mistaken self-diagnosis when learning about new medical topics is sometimes called the "medical school student syndrome".
Just because many of the easily observable symptoms of Coeliac disease are commonly found in any random selection of population, does not mean that Coeliac disease is common. It doesn't help that most of the symptoms may or may not even be present!
But really here's the list of symptoms: Abdominal pain, Abdominal distention, bloating, gas, indigestion, Constipation, Decreased appetite (may also be increased or unchanged), Diarrhea -- chronic or occasional, Lactose intolerance (common upon diagnosis, usually goes away following treatment), Nausea and vomiting, Stools that float, are foul smelling, bloody, or “fatty”, unexplained weight loss (although people can be overweight or of normal weight upon diagnosis), Anemia (low blood count), Bone and joint pain, Bone disease (osteoporosis, kyphoscoliosis, fracture), Breathlessness (due to anemia), Bruising easily, Dental enamel defects and discoloration, Depression, Fatigue, Growth delay in children, Hair loss, Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), Irritability and behavioral changes, Malnutrition, Mouth ulcers, Muscle cramps, Nosebleed, Seizures, Short stature, unexplained Skin disorders (dermatitis herpetiformis)
Swelling, general or abdominal, Vitamin or mineral deficiency, single or multiple nutrient (for example, iron, folate, vitamin K), Type-1 diabestes, autoimmune thyroid disease, autoimmune liver disease, rheumatoid arthritis, addison's disease, sjogren's syndrome.
Almost everybody I know has half of these symptoms half of the time -- and the ones that are less common are from something that's not CD (hair loss? how about Rad poisoning. Short children? Pituitary irregularity. Mouth ulcers? How about being a skank in High School?)
Here, let's try some example differentials:
Patient is 28, Female, Caucasian, blood pressure is normal, pulse is normal, height and weight are average.
Symptoms: Anemic, Bloating, Constipated, Abdominal Pain, Nausea and vomiting, Bruising easily, Fatigue, irritability and behavioral changes, muscle cramps, swelling, vitamin D and Calcium deficiency in lab work.
Does she have a) Lupus? b) PMS? c) or one of the .5% of the adult population with CD? (hint, it's never Lupus).
How about this:
Patient is 62, Female, Caucasian, BP is elevated, pulse is elevated, height is below average and weight are average.
Symptoms: Anemic, Indigestion, Occasional Diarrhea, Bone and Joint Pain, Bone disease (osteoporosis), Bruises easily, Dental discoloration, Fatigue, Hair loss, Hypoglycemia, Malnutrition, Short Stature, unexplained, Hives, Vitamin and mineral deficiency.
Does she have a) Lupus? b) Old, eats a crap diet of mostly snack foods, works a high stress sedentary job and drinks lots of coffee and tea and just starting eating a high fiber diet for the first time in her life? c) one of the .5% of the adult population with CD?
Or let's try another:
Patient is 34, Male, Caucasian, BP is normal, pulse is elevated, height is average, weight is above average.
Symptoms: Thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes, fatigue, vomiting, foul smelling stools, diarrhea, irritability, nosebleeds, vitamin and mineral deficiency.
Does he have a) Lupus? b) Has hereditary Grave's disease, is fat, eats a crap diet of pizza, candy and Jolt, has poor social skills, and just ate a bad piece of three day old pepperoni and we should check to see if he has sepsis and swab for known food-borne pathogens? c) one of the .5% of the adult population with CD?
My point is that the observable presentation symptoms for CD are crap. They could be symptoms for anything. Hence the caution on self-diagnosis. It also doesn't mean people should go out of their way to inconvenience themselves to avoid grain products and food with gluten in it because they get bloated on occasion or have stinky poo.
Immunoglobulin E antibody presence is the only meaningful definition for "allergic" in the literature. You are right, there are different degrees of immune system response w/r to IgE response. But no IgE? Not allergic -- probably intolerant -- may have something else.
Lots of things people say/think they are allergic to, they are actually intolerant of.
I'm not putting down Dangerous Grains, only cautioning that many people improperly self-diagnose. The authors are recognized practitioners in allergy medicine. I forget some of the the terms off-hand, but mistaken self-diagnosis when learning about new medical topics is sometimes called the "medical school student syndrome".
Just because many of the easily observable symptoms of Coeliac disease are commonly found in any random selection of population, does not mean that Coeliac disease is common. It doesn't help that most of the symptoms may or may not even be present!
But really here's the list of symptoms: Abdominal pain, Abdominal distention, bloating, gas, indigestion, Constipation, Decreased appetite (may also be increased or unchanged), Diarrhea -- chronic or occasional, Lactose intolerance (common upon diagnosis, usually goes away following treatment), Nausea and vomiting, Stools that float, are foul smelling, bloody, or “fatty”, unexplained weight loss (although people can be overweight or of normal weight upon diagnosis), Anemia (low blood count), Bone and joint pain, Bone disease (osteoporosis, kyphoscoliosis, fracture), Breathlessness (due to anemia), Bruising easily, Dental enamel defects and discoloration, Depression, Fatigue, Growth delay in children, Hair loss, Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), Irritability and behavioral changes, Malnutrition, Mouth ulcers, Muscle cramps, Nosebleed, Seizures, Short stature, unexplained Skin disorders (dermatitis herpetiformis) Swelling, general or abdominal, Vitamin or mineral deficiency, single or multiple nutrient (for example, iron, folate, vitamin K), Type-1 diabestes, autoimmune thyroid disease, autoimmune liver disease, rheumatoid arthritis, addison's disease, sjogren's syndrome.
Almost everybody I know has half of these symptoms half of the time -- and the ones that are less common are from something that's not CD (hair loss? how about Rad poisoning. Short children? Pituitary irregularity. Mouth ulcers? How about being a skank in High School?)
Here, let's try some example differentials: Patient is 28, Female, Caucasian, blood pressure is normal, pulse is normal, height and weight are average. Symptoms: Anemic, Bloating, Constipated, Abdominal Pain, Nausea and vomiting, Bruising easily, Fatigue, irritability and behavioral changes, muscle cramps, swelling, vitamin D and Calcium deficiency in lab work.
Does she have a) Lupus? b) PMS? c) or one of the .5% of the adult population with CD? (hint, it's never Lupus).
How about this: Patient is 62, Female, Caucasian, BP is elevated, pulse is elevated, height is below average and weight are average. Symptoms: Anemic, Indigestion, Occasional Diarrhea, Bone and Joint Pain, Bone disease (osteoporosis), Bruises easily, Dental discoloration, Fatigue, Hair loss, Hypoglycemia, Malnutrition, Short Stature, unexplained, Hives, Vitamin and mineral deficiency.
Does she have a) Lupus? b) Old, eats a crap diet of mostly snack foods, works a high stress sedentary job and drinks lots of coffee and tea and just starting eating a high fiber diet for the first time in her life? c) one of the .5% of the adult population with CD?
Or let's try another: Patient is 34, Male, Caucasian, BP is normal, pulse is elevated, height is average, weight is above average. Symptoms: Thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes, fatigue, vomiting, foul smelling stools, diarrhea, irritability, nosebleeds, vitamin and mineral deficiency.
Does he have a) Lupus? b) Has hereditary Grave's disease, is fat, eats a crap diet of pizza, candy and Jolt, has poor social skills, and just ate a bad piece of three day old pepperoni and we should check to see if he has sepsis and swab for known food-borne pathogens? c) one of the .5% of the adult population with CD?
My point is that the observable presentation symptoms for CD are crap. They could be symptoms for anything. Hence the caution on self-diagnosis. It also doesn't mean people should go out of their way to inconvenience themselves to avoid grain products and food with gluten in it because they get bloated on occasion or have stinky poo.
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/ "Diagnosis involves blood tests and, in most cases, a biopsy of the small intestine."