Question: If my relative has celiac disease, what are my chances of having it?
Answer: According to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, if you are a first-degree relative (parent, child, brother or sister) of a person with celiac disease, you have a 1 in 22 chance of developing the disease in your lifetime. If you are a second-degree relative (aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchild or half-sibling), your risk is 1 in 39. Therefore, if you're a first- or second-degree relative of a person with celiac disease, you might want to have genetic testing to see if you have the celiac disease genes, too.
If you do have the celiac disease genes, you can have your antibody levels checked regularly, even if you have no obvious signs of the disease. Regular monitoring will allow the disease to be diagnosed quickly if it does develop, and early diagnosis will reduce the risk of associated complications. On the other hand, if you do not carry the genes, then you and your children (unless they have inherited the celiac disease genes from their other parent) are at an extremely low risk for developing celiac disease.
You can learn more about this topic by reading "Genetic Tests for Celiac Disease."
