My daughter is just 2 years old. I am very concerned about her fecal fat score, which shows malabsorption in the severe range. She is gluten free now, but I wonder if this much damage can be totally healed. I am giving her a good, healthy diet with organic fruit smoothies and probiotics mixed in to try and help her gut heal. Any other suggestions. She is so young to have such a problem. She is a healthy looking child, though, and is 32 pounds and 34 inches tall. (We are very tall people so our kids are big and Lauren is no exception.) Any feedback is very welcome. Our entire family is gluten free since my two sons have shown to be gluten sensitive with the Enterolab testing, too, and my husband and I are waiting for our results any day now. My sons did not show any malabsorption, though. I am worried most about my baby daughter. Here are her Enterolab results:

A) Gluten Sensitivity Stool and Gene Panel Complete *Best test/best value
Fecal Antigliadin IgA 62 (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Antitissue Transglutaminase IgA 53 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score 1104 Units (Normal Range <300 Units)

Fecal anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA antibody 56 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 1 0201
HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 2 0603
Serologic equivalent: HLA-DQ 2,1 (Subtype 2,6)

Interpretation of Fecal Antigliadin IgA: Intestinal antigliadin IgA antibody was elevated, indicating that you have active dietary gluten sensitivity. For optimal health, resolution of symptoms (if you have them), and prevention of small intestinal damage and malnutrition, osteoporosis, and damage to other tissues (like nerves, brain, joints, muscles, thyroid, pancreas, other glands, skin, liver, spleen, among others), it is recommended that you follow a strict and permanent gluten free diet. As gluten sensitivity is a genetic syndrome, you may want to have your relatives screened as well.

Interpretation of Fecal Antitissue Transglutaminase IgA: You have an autoimmune reaction to the human enzyme tissue transglutaminase, secondary to dietary gluten sensitivity.

Interpretation of Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score: A fecal fat score greater than or equal to 300 Units indicates there is an increased amount of dietary fat in the stool which usually is due to gluten-induced small intestinal malabsorption/damage when associated with gluten sensitivity. Values between 300-600 Units are mild elevations, 600-1000 Units moderate elevations, and values greater than 1000 Units are severe elevations. Any elevated fecal fat value should be rechecked in one year after treatment to ensure that it does not persist because chronic fat malabsorption is associated with osteoporosis among other nutritional deficiency syndromes.

Interpretation of Fecal anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA antibody: Levels of fecal IgA antibody to a food antigen greater than or equal to 10 are indicative of an immune reaction, and hence immunologic “sensitivity” to that food. For any elevated fecal antibody level, it is recommended to remove that food from your diet. Values less than 10 indicate there currently is minimal or no reaction to that food and hence, no direct evidence of food sensitivity to that specific food. However, because 1 in 500 people cannot make IgA at all, and rarely, some people can still have clinically significant reactions to a food antigen despite the lack of a significant antibody reaction (because the reactions primarily involve T cells), if you have an immune syndrome or symptoms associated with food sensitivity, it is recommended that you try a strict removal of suspect foods from your diet for up to 12 months despite a negative test.

Interpretation Of HLA-DQ Testing: HLA-DQB1 gene analysis reveals that you have one of the main genes that predisposes to gluten sensitivity and celiac sprue, HLA-DQB1*0201 or HLA-DQB1*0302. Each of your offspring has a 50% chance of receiving this gene from you, and at least one of your parents passed it to you. You also have a non-celiac gene predisposing to gluten sensitivity (any DQ1, DQ2 not by HLA-DQB1*0201, or DQ3 not by HLA-DQB1*0302). Having one celiac gene and one gluten sensitive gene, means that each of your parents, and all of your children (if you have them) will possess at least one copy of a gluten sensitive gene. Having two copies also means there is an even stronger predisposition to gluten sensitivity than having one gene and the resultant immunologic gluten sensitivity or celiac disease may be more severe.

Your daughter's damage can definitely be completely healed. Children heal exponentially quicker than adults, and they are also much more apt to fully heal. I would expect your daughter to be completely healed in about a year max. It sounds like you are taking a great approach towards helping your daughter heal. Organic foods and probiotics are great for the healing process. I understand that the Enterolab results look extreme, but with the proper diet and care, your daughter should be fine. Good luck,

-Brian

The probiotics are great for restoring healthy gut flora. You can also introduce some L-Glutamine to heal the intestinal lining. A Naturopathic Dr. is great for helping with this kind of issue.

Make sure the probiotics are a good Human strain. And I think at that age they need Bifidus Bacterium. Don't quote me on that, but I know some are better for younger ones.

IMO it would be a good idea to avoid dairy considering you need a healthy gut to digest it. Also, avoid too many sugars as this will impair the immune system. Just my 2 cents!!

Thank you so much for the feedback. Brian, your reply actually made me cry tears of relief! Aprilb, I will look into a probiotic for kids with the correct strain. We are off all dairy and soy, too, so hopefully that will make her healing easier. My goal is a whole foods and organic diet for 90% of what she eats. We already ate organic before this so the transition to gluten-free has not been too traumatic for us.

I am still nursing her and am very grateful for that at this poinit, given her issues. I know that breastmilk is really good for her and probably the reason she is growing in spite of having so much damage. I am off all gluten and dairy, as well, pending my results but also for her.

It really sounds like you are on the right track! She will probably heal up in no time. I went through this with my little boy when he was about 1 years old. I introduced the L-glutamine to help speed things along with gut healing. But the gluten free diet was key. He went from skinny, swollen belly, dark circles under his eyes and NOT growing to immediate growing.

We also have heavy metals and environmentals we are dealing with but I believe we are on the road to recovery.

Brian - What did you mean by probiotics should be the right human strain?