Low or Elevated Secretory IgA: Critical Health Testing You Should Know About

With the advent of the internet, consumers and medical researchers like myself have access to a whole host of sound medical literature. This is by far and away one of the most important blog posts I have ever written. The testing I am about to share with you helped to save my daughter’s life. As it would turn out, we would only discover some six years into her health journey that elevated Secretory IgA was the underlying cause of many if not most of her health problems. By finally discovering this fact through diagnostic testing (out-of-network), we were able to avoid cancer, leukemia, cirrhosis of the liver and other horrific health problems.  My special thanks to Dr. Gene Mayer from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine for the information I am about to share. This comes from “Immunology – Chapter Four: Immunoglobulins – Structure and Function. The link to this information is: http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/mayer/lgStruct2000.htm

First of all, I went looking for information on Secretory IgA after my daughter’s medical diagnostic testing came back with elevated Secretory IgA. This was not a medical term that I was familiar with, and in the last two years I have not found a lot of physicians who are familiar with it either. For the lay reader, IgA is an Immuoglobulin class. If you have severe food allergies of the life-threatening variety, that falls into the IgE (Epsilon heavy chains) class of Immuoglobulins.

Secretory IgA is found in saliva in the mouth, throughout the gastrointestinal tract and in the mucous secretions throughout the body. Here are what Dr. Mayer’s text listed as outcomes (as I read it) for increased Secretory IgA:

1. Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
2. Cirrhosis of the liver (most cases)
3. Certain stages of collagen and other autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus
4. Chronic infections not based on immunologic deficiencies
5. IgA myeloma

Decreased IgA would be potentially related to:

1. Hereditary ataxia telangiectasia
2. Immunologic deficiency states
3. Malabsorption syndromes
4. Lymphoid aplasia
5. IgG meyloma
6. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
7. Chronic lymphoblastic leukemia

 Myeloma is a form of cancer. Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS) can be pretty serious as well and leads to malignancies in up to one-third of the patients with WAS. Cirrhosis of the liver is the twelfth-leading cause of death in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as referenced by the National Digestive Disorders Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC). Leukemia we pretty much all know is very serious and life-threatening.

All of which says to me that Secretory IgA is pretty important. From a laboratory source (Individual Wellbeing Diagnostic Laboratories), I found that Secretory IgA (SIgA) is our first line of defense against bacteria, food toxins, fungus, parasites and viruses. While I can not assert that this is in fact the case, I do personally believe that from the above information that elevated or low levels of Secretory IgA in and of themselves merit investigation or testing for individuals with chronic health conditions that are not otherwise sourced by some medical fact.

 What does this mean to you the average consumer? It means, like in most instances in health care, that you must be proactive and be your own health advocate. Perhaps this means that you ask your physician or specialist if you have been tested for Secretory IgA. We did my daughter’s SIgA testing by stool. You can also check the diagnostic testing companies’ websites that market such testing for additional support and information. If I had a chronic health condition that was not being resolved to my satisfaction, or if I had any of the above conditions, I would consider ruling out elevated or low SIgA. After all, traditional mainstream medicine is primarily based on ruling out (or in) medical conditions. Let me know your questions and comments on this post!

Love,

Lisa

 

Comments

[Lisa A. Lundy]

Hi Annette,
I am not personally aware of Secretory IgA being related to celiac disease or gluten issues, but I will ask a few physicians to see if that is often the case. I just don't know. My daughter was getting an amino acid treatment. Have you had an extensive nutritional profile done on your son? If not, that could be telling as to what is going on in the immune system. I'll e-mail you if I get any additional information that might be helpful to you. Let me know if you have any other questions. I just posted a recent blog on the nutritional profile testing, so you can find the list of what is often included in that testing. If you have not done that testing - it is worth it. Thanks for your comment. I'll keep you in my prayers! Love, Lisa A. Lundy

[Annette]

My son also has elevated Secretory IgA, 251 mg/dl. I am trying to find out more information. What is the treatment for your daughter? We have sent off DNA tests to see if he has Celiac. We have taken him off all gluten, soy and dairy. Is the elevated IgA related to a gluten issue? Any info you could give me would be so appreciated.