Allergy Testing

Around 33% (1 in 3) of the population will at sometime in their life see a doctor because of an allergy and in consequence allergy testing is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

In order to find out who carries out allergy testing in your area, ask the following people for information:

• Your Doctor or Practice Nurse.
• Your Health Visitor or School Nurse.
• Your local family Health Service Authority.
• Your local Hospital.
• Your local Pharmacist.

The type of test to be carried out will depend upon your symptoms or the condition of your skin.

• Blood Test
• Skin Prick Test
• Patch Test
• Other Tests

However there is no point in having an allergy test if either the patient or the doctor are not prepared to act on the results. If the results from the tests are positive and correlate with a clear and precise history then one should gain benefit from appropriate allergy medication not only to relieve the symptoms, but also in the use of prevention medication and not least appropriate avoidance measures.

Can We Test for Food Intolerance?

A recent clinical trial in the UK was undertaken among patients suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The trial looked at IgG blood tests (Different from the IgE allergy blood tests) for food intolerance or to give it its new correct medical name non-allergic food hypersensitivity.

The outcome of the trial showed excellent results in improvement of patients' symptoms following avoidance of the food identified in the IgG blood test.

We keenly await the evidence from further trials of such tests in the UK and other European countries.