A breakthrough in Celiac testing has become available to Canadians suffering from gluten intolerance symptoms.
2G Pharma Inc. is now offering the at-home test for IgA tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTG) called the Biocard™ Celiac Test. The test is the first home approved by Health Canada for the diagnosis of Celiac disease.
Celiac disease is a serious, lifelong, gastrointestinal disorder that can cause a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal distension, weight loss, malnutrition and skin disorders due to permanent intolerance to gluten, a complex mixture of proteins found in wheat, barley and rye.
Celiac symptoms are numerous and varied making it difficult to diagnose. Patients often feel “lousy” for as long as 10 years while continuing to eat gluten, since they don’t know what is wrong.
Until now, Celiac testing in Canada required a physician to first consider Celiac disease as a potential cause of the symptoms, and then order Celiac blood tests which can take up to 3 weeks for results. Depending on the province and the patients’ medical plan, a fee may be required for these tests.
This simple home blood test is good news to the 1 out of 100 people who suffer from . Women are twice as likely to have Celiac disease. People most at additional risk of developing the disease are individuals with Type I diabetes or those who are relatives of Celiac patients.
If Celiac disease is left undiagnosed and untreated there is an increased risk of infertility, osteoporosis and intestinal cancer. If you are diagnosed with Celiac, early screening of your children, siblings, and parents is important, as their risk factor for the disease is 1 in 10! Celiac disease can strike at any age and approximately 97% of those affected are still undiagnosed.
The new Biocard Celiac Test can now be purchased online at or at selected stores, for only $50. and in less than 10 minutes you can perform the test and get immediate test results!
