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Making The Food Allergy Diagnosis

An allergist is the best medical professional to make the assessment about food allergies. They have been specially trained in diagnosing and treating food allergies.

At your first appointment with the allergist, you will need to fill out a patient history and symptom form. This form will help the allergist to understand which foods you suspect as being the ones you are reacting to. You will be asked about when you noticed the reaction (how long after eating the food) and how much of the food you ate.

If the allergist feels that you may have food allergies he/she will order some food allergy testing that may include the skin prick testing, blood tests, a food journal and also food challenges.

The Skin Prick Test:

Usually the skin prick test results are available within minutes. The test is easy to administer, but may be somewhat uncomfortable for the patient. There are different devices that are used during the skin prick testing. One device is the "bifurcated needle", which looks like a 2-pronged fork. Another device is a "multi-test", which looks like a small board with several pins sticking out of it. The suspected food allergen is placed in the device and a small amount is put on the skin after the skin is pricked (hence the name of the test). If the skin around the prick reacts than there is a good chance that you are allergic to that particular food item. The result will be given to you in terms of either being negative or positive. Positive means that there was a reaction. The results of the skin prick test are looked at along with the reported history of reactions to food that the patient provided and the two pieces of information are used to make the diagnosis, the prick test alone is not enough evidence.

Blood Tests:

Another diagnostic tool used by allergist are blood tests. The RAST (RadioAllergoSorbent Test) is used to detect the presence of IgE antibodies to a particular allergen.

Food Challenges:

Food Challenges are also useful; especially double-blinded tests where both the patient and the allergist are unaware of what food allergens are being used. Clear capsules with the suspected food allergens are given to the patient to swallow one at a time and the allergist observes the patient for a reaction.

Food challenges due to the danger of severe reaction are conducted in a hospital setting with a doctor present.

Other Tools:

Other diagnostic tools include endoscopy, colonoscopy, and biopsy.

Making the diagnoses:

The allergist will take the results of all of the tests performed along with the medical history form that gives the information about the reactions that have been noted when eating certain foods and the allergist will determine a diagnosis. The results of the tests will not only be used to make the diagnosis, the results will also be useful in designing the treatment plan.