How is celiac disease diagnosed?
Your doctor will ask questions about your symptoms and do a physical exam.
You may have blood tests to see if you have certain antibodies that could mean you have the disease. Celiac disease triggers the immune system to produce these antibodies.
To find out for sure if you have celiac disease, you will probably have an endoscopy. In this test, a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look at the inside of your small intestine. Your doctor can also take small samples of tissue to be tested in a lab. This is called a biopsy.
If the biopsy shows signs of celiac disease (such as abnormal villi and inflammation in the small intestine), a gluten-free diet will be recommended.
A diagnosis of celiac disease is confirmed if the diet makes symptoms go away and if antibody tests become normal.
