Environmental and Food Allergy Testing and Treatment

Allergy testing is performed by an allergist or immunologist, who is a physician that has received two or more additional years of specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of allergy and asthma.

Warren M. Levin, MD

Allergy-Addiction to Foods and Chemicals
A new concept to the medical profession, but one of great importance to the healing arts, is food allergy/addiction. You will notice that I do not speak of allergy or addiction nor of allergy and addiction, but rather of a single entity -- allergy/addiction. These two different aspects are as inseparable as heads and tails on a coin. Depending on which aspect is facing you, one or the other side may be more obvious but the obverse is always there.

The acute reaction occurs from exposure to a food which is not eaten regularly. The reaction may affect one or several organs systems, but tends to affect the same systems in a particular patient with each repeated exposure. In other words, any organ in the body is capable of responding as the shock organ. If the nose reacts you get hay fever. If the lungs react, asthma. If the skin is the shock organ you get eczema or hives. If the intestinal tract is the responding organ you get diarrhea or constipation or nausea and vomiting or gas or a combination.

One of the most important shock organs that can respond to the allergic insult is the brain.
Read about Allergy-Addiction and Bio-detoxification from Warren M. Levin, MD

Taking an allergy test can let you know exactly what you are allergic to and what you are allergic to. Armed with this knowledge, you can work with your doctor to determine a course of treatment to help you eliminate your allergy symptoms

There are several types of allergy testing methods including:

Skin testing
The allergist pricks your skin and puts a small amount of a particular allergen into your skin. If you are allergic to that substance, there will be swelling where the allergen was placed.

Intradermal Testing
With this allergy test small amounts of the allergen is injected into the skin, and then after a few minutes the test site is examined to see if there has been an allergic reaction. The intradermal test is an accurate method for testing food allergies, and it's effective even when the patient is not willing or able to give an accurate response to subjective tests.

Provocation/Neutralization
This test uses intradermal testing with increasing amounts of the diluted allergen until a neutralizing dose is determined.

Electro-dermal screening
Used mostly in Europe, this test uses acupuncture points to measure changes in skin conductance in response to allergens that are introduced into the circuitry. This method can be used to detect both food allergies and environmental sensitivities.

Once the allergic substances have been identified, an allergy treatment program can be implemented that can include avoiding the offending substances along with specific therapies that can include:

Optimal dose neutralization:
The dose is determined during allergy testing and it can be administered either sublingually (droplets under the tongue) or by self-administered injection.

Integrated allergy treatment plan
This approach takes the whole body into consideration when dealing with allergy. The practitioner may look at the following to help eliminate the sources of toxicity:

Diet
Personal care products
Bowel habits
Environment at work and home
Dental
Chemical exposure
Molds
Toxins
Water quality

Patients will also be educated about environmental concerns such as removal of household chemicals and toxins, using air and water purifiers, proper diet and elimination of allergic foods.

Robban A. Sica, MD

Environmental Allergy Relief Program
The environmental approach differs significantly from the conventional treatment of allergy in several ways. First, conventional allergists only recognize acute hypersensitivity immune-mediated reactions while environmental physicians realize that there are many mechanisms of reactions, including delayed reactions, intolerances, and sensitivities that are neurologically-mediated, instead of immune-mediated. This means that conventional allergists will only test for and treat classic "hay fever" allergies caused by trees, weeds, grasses, molds, dust, and danders, or skin reactions, such as hives or allergic dermatitis, and only the few foods that will cause these types of reactions. The environmental doctor, by exploring the other mechanisms, can uncover reactions caused by a wide variety of allergens, chemicals, and foods. These reactions are often "masked" because they manifest as symptoms less likely to be identified as allergy or because the reaction is delayed by 24 to 72 hours. Arthritis, fibromyalgia, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome (spastic colon) and inflammatory bowel disease, interstitial cystitis (chronic irritation of the bladder), migraine headaches, and even mood disorders such as depression or anxiety are just a few of the diseases that can be caused or worsened by allergy.
Read further - Robban A. Sica, MD on Complementary Approaches to Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergy

Resources:
L. Terry Chappell, MD is the medical director of the Celebration of Health Association in Blufton, Ohio.
Robban A. Sica, MD practices integrative medicine at her clinic Center for the Healing Arts, PC, Orange CT 06611
Warren M. Levin, MD FAAFP(ret), FACN, FAAEM practices Conventional and Alternative Philosophies for Health in Vienna, VA 22180