Gluten intolerance is thought to affect up to one in a hundred of us, but many people unknowingly remain undiagnosed. This can lead to a range of unpleasant symptoms, which may vary from person to person, but can include digestive problems such as swelling, abdominal pain or diarrhoea, tiredness and even dry skin. Fortunately, once such an intolerance is identified, it is possible to remove gluten from your diet, leading to significant improvements in your quality of life. What's more, thanks to advances in home test kits, it is possible to identify the likelihood of coeliac disease from the comfort and privacy of your own home. The Science Behind the Test The uncomfortable symptoms experienced by gluten intolerant individuals after consuming grain-based foods are a result of inflammation. Quite simply, the body's immune system reacts to the gluten, particularly in and around the small intestine. When the body launches an immune response, antibodies are produced. This coeliac home test specifically analyses one such antibody known to scientists as tTGA, which is known to be a biomarker for gluten intolerance. Note that if you have been avoiding gluten in your diet as a result of an assumed intolerance then this home test kit may not pick up tTGA levels effectively. The manufacturer recommends including gluten in your diet for at least 6 weeks prior to testing, to be sure of an accurate result. Results from the Comfort of Your Own Home It takes less than five minutes to get the result of your coeliac home test, and everything happens in the comfort of your own home. There is no need to send off a sample in order to receive your results. Simply add a small drop of blood (easily achieved with the included lancet) to the test strip and wait a few minutes for the colour to develop. Note that gluten intolerance can run in families, so if you receive a positive result, then you may also wish to consider testing blood relatives too. Once you have got your results, the whole kit can be safely and legally disposed of in your household waste.
