Complementary And Alternative Diagnostics - Pinpointing Your Allergic Triggers: Allergies

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Complementary and alternative diagnostics

Complementary and alternative diagnostics

Today many people integrate both traditional and complementary or alternative medicine into their treatment programs for a variety of conditions. Some allergy sufferers, therefore, seek out complementary and alternative diagnostic tests. But thus far, alternative diagnostics have not been proved effective. Some of the methods described below are harmless but costly and slow down the diagnostic process, which delays the implementation of effective allergy treatment. Others are harmful or even dangerous. One in particular, provocation-neutralization, is potentially life-threatening. The following assessments were published in 2004 in the journal Allergy.

• Hair testing: Used for food allergies. Ineffective for diagnosing allergies.

• Specific IgG-antibody testing: Used for food allergies. Attempts to match the amount and ratios of IgG antibodies in the blood with specific allergies. Because IgG antibodies to common food antigens can be found in both healthy and allergic individuals, the test is not useful.

• Kinesiology: Used for food and insect allergies. The patient holds a bottle containing the allergen while the muscle power of the arm is measured. No more reliable than guessing.

• Cytotoxic testing: Used for food allergies. A sample of someone’s blood is mixed with foods in a test tube so the white blood cells can be watched to see if they change shape. No scientific basis. The National Institutes of Health has firmly stated that cytotoxic testing is unproven.

• Electrodermal testing: Used for food and respiratory allergies. The method is similar to electro-acupuncture, but a number of scientific studies have shown it to be ineffective.

• Iridology: Used for asthma. The patient’s eye is examined, and diagnosis is based on the reading of a chart that maps out purported diagnostic properties of areas of the iris. Not scientifically proven.

• Provocation-neutralization: Used for food and other allergies. A person is injected with a food or another suspect allergen. If the individual experiences an allergic reaction, he or she is injected with more of the same allergen to “neutralize” the reaction. This can cause potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis. In one study, not only did this happen, but the anaphylaxis treatment was also mishandled.

Should you be unsure of the credentials of an allergist proposing alternative diagnostics to you, check with AAAAI or the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), respected professional organizations, to see if the individual is a member.

Allergy tests
Test	Purpose
Skin tests: prick test intracutaneous injection patch test	The prick test is the most commonly used test to detect IgE-mediated allergies, especially allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma. Also used for food allergies and some drug allergies. A very allergen-specific and sensitive test. Intracutaneous injection is the next step in IgE-mediated allergy detection. More sensitive but less specific than the prick test, with more false positives. The patch test is mainly used to detect T cell-mediated contact dermatitis.
Blood test: RAST (radioallergosorbent test) and its derivatives	Used to detect IgE-mediated allergies. Not as sensitive as the prick test, but helpful for people who are unable to have a skin test.
Elimination diet	Aids in diagnosing food allergies or intolerances.
Challenge test	Sometimes used to definitely prove food or medication allergies.
Unproven tests: kinesiology cytotoxic test provocation-neutralization test electrodermal test chemical analysis of body tissues specific IgG-antibody test iridology	These tests are either unproven for allergy testing, are ineffective, or (as with cytotoxic and provocation-neutralization testing) potentially dangerous.

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Last updated:	August 21, 2006
Reviewed By:	Faculty of Harvard Medical School

Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.

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