Diagnostic Methods

What diagnostic methods are there?

Diagnosing food allergies and intolerances is one of the most difficult tasks for every allergist, as it depends on numerous factors. Just as with a puzzle, various influences have to be considered. There are, moreover, a lot of different diagnostic methods, which will be described briefly in the following and which are applied in different ways.

An allergist may give you a blood test to measure IgE antibodies, substances produced by your immune system in response to an allergen, against common allergy triggers such as peanuts, eggs, fish and milk.

In the case of a food intolerance, many physicians believe the only true test is an elimination diet. While on an elimination diet, a patient removes entirely a suspected adverse effect causing food from the diet for an extended period of time, typically two weeks to two months. The patient then waits to see if symptoms subside.

Some physicians do skin-testing, which is a popular test for hay fever and dust mite allergies, but it's not as precise for foods as sometimes only a fresh food, not an extract, will elicit a reaction. Although blood and skin tests are generally considered to be reliable, you can't rely only on testing. There are many cases of people receiving false positives or negatives to such tests.

Scientifically approved methods

• Anamnesis (studying the personal medical history)
• Skin tests
  - prick test
  - intracutaneous test
  - scratch test
  - rubbing test
• Provocation tests

Remember

Self-diagnosis of food allergy or intolerance is not sufficient for radical changes to ones diet, always consult a physician.

Further information

Further information about diagnosis of food allergies can be found at the following websites:

The National Health Service (NHS) UK
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Allergies/Pages/Diagnosis.aspx

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectuous Diseases (NIAID) USA
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/understanding/Pages/diagnosis.aspx

The Food Allergy Initiative
http://www.faiusa.org/?page=diagnosis

Allergy UK
http://www.allergyuk.org/allergy_diag.aspx