Allergy Testing

There are different kinds of tests performed to ensure right diagnosis of complications in a person's throat. Tests enable doctors to identify the right treatment. A sore throat can lead to a more serious infection thus it requires thorough testing. It can be experienced by any one at any age. Although this problem normally just goes off after a short period of time, there are cases when they can be quite stubborn. Sore throat due to bacteria buildup does not take long to heal but if there is a viral infection, medication is required. Viral infections may be hard to treat and so it is important to consult a doctor if you find that you have throat infection which is taking too much time to clear. If you have had a sore throat before, then you already know how uncomfortable it is.

The causes of throat issues can range from simple problems such as voice strain to tumors in the throat. You should visit your doctor to know the right diagnosis. It will help you realize that it can be another cause of another problem; hence, it becomes even harder to determine the true causes on your own. It is important to not take for granted any swelling you feel or roughness in your voice. Your throat doctor will try to identify what type of problem you have and this will help him get the right treatment for your condition. You have to know that there are some infections that run through the blood line. It is identified by your parents' genetics. If most of the time you experience having infections, then there is a high possibility that your children will get them also. Your doctor will take a Strep A test and the lab technician will examine the saliva to determine the type of infection you have. You should carefully listen to what your doctor recommends. Your doctor's advice will go a long way in helping you undergo the right treatment for your throat condition.

If you want to control your throat conditions, then you should go for a test. You have to clearly identify what is causing your illness. There are many effective ways that you can do once you are able to identify the exact cause of your infections. If it is due to allergic reactions then you must avoid using the product that is triggering the allergy. One most common reason for throat infections is due to bad lifestyle like smoking. There are several ways to control any bad habits you have and these could help you solve your problems of having a sore throat. There are alternative treatments that can also help you treat your conditions that can be done at home. You have to clean your house to avoid the growth of molds and get rid of dusts.

The Strep A test will ensure that you will only apply appropriate medications. Take note that if your throat is infected, your doctor will give you the most suitable medication based on the results of your test. You should however only consult a doctor that is specializing in throat infections.

Ringing in ears allergies are not the only things that can cause ringing in ears. The sounds that are driving you crazy are actually symptoms of some other root problem, and, although ringing in ears allergies certainly can produce the ringing sounds there are many other underlying conditions that can do so.

So the first thing you need to understand is that ringing in the ears is not a disease, but, a symptom of some other underlying conditions that you may have (e.g. allergies) and which your doctor would normally look for once having established that you have ringing in ears. He or she would then decide on the most appropriate treatment for you. But many times you can report with tinnitus and no obvious underlying conditions can be found, which makes things kind of difficult.

The main causes for ringing in ears are damage / problems caused by noise, sinus, stress, and Meniere's disease. These are things like ear infections, damaged hearing, impacted ear wax, high blood pressure, allergies, and so on.

And apart from ringing in ears, sufferers can also hear sounds that are described as ticking, clicking, whooshing, buzzing, hissing, etc. It is also believed that the type of sound you hear is a function of the underlying cause or causes.

Traditional medical treatment consists of things like, drugs, complementaries like acupuncture, audio devices to mask the sounds, relaxation exercises, etc. Surgery is an option but only in particular circumstances and is really only used as a final resort. But the main thing about all this is that there is not a proven cure for ringing in ears using traditional medical treatments, so that, around 93% of sufferers never get full relief from their symptoms.

There are millions of folks who have ringing in ears and who just can't get relief. If the sounds are only occasional and not of a particularly high volume then you can probably just about put up with it, even although it's very annoying. And many times that's just what some doctors recommend. But for vary many people (perhaps you're one) tinnitus just drives them crazy. It prevents natural sleep patterns, leads to fatigue, undermines job performance, leads to depression, affects relationships; basically it just screws up your life.

That's why many folks nowadays are taking their cure into their own hands and researching (as you are right now) for any information they can get on alternative treatments. But of course to do this properly and get the right cure for you (because everyone is different) you will have to spend a lot of time and energy on research, interviews with medical experts and other sufferers, finding and pouring over medical journals, etc. Also, you are better to use the word 'tinnitus' when searching as that is the medical term for ringing in ears.

Luckily there's one tinnitus (cured) sufferer who has already gone through this whole process. It took over 2 years of research, testing and development, but, the outcome is a proven alternative treatment for tinnitus with a 80% success rate (compare that with the 93% who don't get relief using traditional methods) and very many satisfied ex-tinnitus victims worldwide. At its heart is a series of 11 secret techniques to stop the ringing. And the beauty for folks like yourself who just want to get their life back on track fast, is you just download them straight to your computer.

It used to be if you wanted to find out what you were allergic to you had to undergo a long series of tests that could take weeks or months. If you were allergic to something unusual or rare it could take years or, more commonly, you never would find out. If your allergies were seasonal, they probably disappeared before the testing clinic found an answer and you would give up on the clinic testing and go back to life as before. Much of that procedure today has been speeded up and is more straightforward but if you are being checked for allergies there will probably still be several types of tests performed.

There are three basic ways that a clinic or hospital can use to test you for allergies. The most commonly used is a skin test. This involves putting a small amount of the allergen on your skin. Allergen, by the way, is the medical term for the substance suspected of causing your allergy. Most often, the allergen is applied to your forearm but it could also be done on your back or upper arm. Then the skin in that area is irritated by pricking it with a needle or scratching the skin. This allows the substance to get under your skin. If you are allergic to it there will usually be an allergic reaction in less than 10 to 15 minutes. Usually the reaction just involves redness, itching and swelling of the skin but testers have to be careful with skin tests because in some cases the reaction may be severe and involve respiratory complications. A variation of the skin test is the intradermal allergy test. This test uses a small needle to inject the allergen just beneath the skin. Skin tests are usually used to identify things in the air that you inhale that might be causing your allergy or allergies to insect or animal bites.

A second type of allergy testing is called elimination testing. This is most often used to identify food and diet allergies. In a very controlled environment, various foods are either added or removed from your diet and your reaction is monitored. Often the food is disguised in some fashion to prevent psychological factors from interfering with the test. Sometimes if you think you are allergic to something you abnormally influence the result. Obviously, this method is very time consuming and can only be used if the reactions are relatively mild.

The third and perhaps the best method of allergy testing is the blood test. As the name implies, this involves taking a small sample of your blood and sending it off for laboratory testing. The lab procedure is complicated but basically, they will expose your blood to various allergens. If you are allergic, your blood will create what are called IgE antibodies to fight off the allergen. Depending on what kind of IgE antibodies are created and how many are created the lab can both identify your allergy and tell you how severe it is. RAST and UniCAP are the two main specific types of modern blood testing for allergies. UniCAP is almost a fully automated procedure that can check for several 100 allergens and will even assign a number from 1 to 6 to identify the severity of the allergic reaction. The major disadvantage of blood testing is it requires specialized equipment. Usually your clinic or hospital will have to mail the blood sample off and will not get results back for several weeks.

Aside from needing their basic needs fulfilled, dogs may also need help regarding some health problems. Dogs are actually susceptible to medical conditions like allergies which the owner should quickly take note of and have cured to prevent the condition from worsening.

Making Your Dog Itch: Allergy Possibilities

Allergies cannot be prevented unless the owner is aware of which allergens his dog is allergic to. Here are some helpful tips and hints to fix this problem just in case they come up.

Inhalant Allergy

Most common of these dog allergies is inhalant allergy. The most common symptoms are scratching of the genital areas, abdomen, armpit or face, and prolonged chewing and licking. Upon close inspection, the dog develops a reddish area caused by too much licking.

If you suspect that your dog has this allergy, then you must bring him to your vet. A veterinarian can diagnose this accurately through allergy testing.

Bacteria allergy

Bacteria can be another cause of dog allergy. Bacteria allergy (specifically Staphylococcus allergy) is not a very common condition. Only a few canines react negatively to this bacteria; most other dogs have become accustomed to it.

If your dog is allergic to bacteria, they can easily develop crusts on his skin or even lose some hair on the spot that he normally scratches. You need to bring your dog to a vet before the patches of exposed skin becomes infected.

Flea allergy

Flea, per se, does not cause the dog's allergic reaction but the flea's saliva is the main culprit. A vet or even the owner can easily figure this out.

If you see your dog scratching himself frequently, then you should check his coat thoroughly to see if he has fleas. If you see fleas, that's a pretty good indication that it's causing your dog's discomfort. Since there can be other causes aside from fleas, though, it's better to bring your dog to a vet and have him diagnosed and tested for allergies. If it's flea allergy after all, then you should ask your vet for his recommended flea shampoo and medication.

Food Allergy

Allergy to food is also possible. Manufactured dog foods are a combination of a variety of ingredients, one or a few of which can be causing your dog's allergies. Your dog may have this type of allergy if he keeps on scratching or sneezes a lot, vomits, loses control of his bowels, etc.

Diagnosis of food allergy can be quite difficult. You need to fix a different meal for a certain period of time to see which is causing the allergy. Thus, in one period, you can give your dog chicken meat. Then, on another the diet can be restricted to pork and so on and so forth. Should the dog develop an allergy at anytime a certain ingredient was used, you'll know that it's causing the allergy so you should avoid serving your dog this food again.

Contact allergy

This is an allergy caused by an object that the dog is in constant contact with. It could be his food bowl, his collar, or another thing entirely that's causing the allergy. Since this is the least common, you must rule out all other allergy causes. After that is done, start eliminating the things he is in contact with to isolate the main cause.

Every day patients come in to my chronic condition centers suffering from conditions like Hashimoto's hypothyroid, Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. These diseases have very limited treatment options for the patient consisting mostly of drugs and steroids. For very few of my patients these treatments help but most are frustrated saying "the condition controls me and I do not control the condition". The underlying cause of most chronic conditions is autoimmunity. Autoimmune disease is where your immune system attacks a particular area or system of the body. If you do not address why the body has turned against itself you will continue to have symptoms and even develop whole new system failures. To find out if you have an autoimmune disease I recommend antibody testing.

An antibody is a protein marker. The body's immune system produces antibodies in response to unwanted material like molds, virus, bacteria, and parasites. These substances are labeled antigens. Antibodies can be produced when the body has a reaction to a food it is sensitive to or comes in contact with a harmful chemical. Antibodies can mistakenly be produced against a bodies own healthy tissue when the immune system becomes confused. The antibody marks the tissue for removal and signals the immune response. This is the cause of autoimmune reactions. I like to check for gluten antibodies, myelin (fatty sheath around the nerves) antibodies, cerebellar (back part of the brain controlling balance, coordinated movement, and spinal muscles) antibodies.More examples of are antibodies to pancreatic islet cells often called type 1 diabetes and antibodies to the thyroid are usually associated with Hashimoto's disease.

Patients ask "Dr. Beckingham why does my immune system go crazy to begin with?" One common issue is food sensitivity in particular gluten sensitivity. Gluten is a protein that exists in wheat that acts like an immune system provoking antigen. The protein has been shown in some studies to be a food sensitivity of up to 81% of people from northern European decent. This protein is what makes our crackers stick together, our soups thick, and our salad dressing creamy. Gluten sensitivity includes wheat, spelt, kamut, oats, rye, and barley. Gluten can be hidden as soy sauce, food starch, malt extract and dextrins to name a few.

If you put a food that you are sensitive to in your system every day your immune system will continually be fired up and attack the offending food just like a bacteria or parasite. This in turn creates too many soldiers in your immune army that have no leadership. A mutiny is the common result. The mutiny manifests itself as an attack on healthy tissue like your thyroid, nerves, or the joints of your body.

Patients often tell me that they have been tested for gluten and they are negative so that can't be the problem. This is the simple answer to that question. The blood tests that people have been getting only tests for a part of gluten called alpha gliadin. Alpha gliadin is only one of the building blocks of gluten. Until recently it has been believed that alpha gliadin was the prime suspect of gluten sensitivity. Published peer reviewed journals have now shown that not only does alpha gliadin pose a threat but you can be allergic to beta, gamma, omega gliadins as well. If you are allergic to beta gliadin and have a test for alpha gliadin it will show that you are fine when in reality you have gluten allergies.

As if this were not enough you can be allergic to a substance called glutenin which is also part of gluten. You could be allergic to transglutaminase which is a gluten enzyme. I have seen patients in my office sensitive to deaminated gliadin or gluteomorphin (the addictive part of breads). A true gluten test needs 12 components in it not just the 1 alpha gliadin test which has been the industry standard for years. It frightens me to think of how many patients have been eating gluten thinking they have tested negative when in fact they have a true gluten sensitivity that was missed because of improper testing.

Why is this so important you may ask? Recent studies have shown a link between gluten sensitivity and psychiatric illness, ADHD, rheumatoid arthritis, migraines, and obesity to name a few. Why are so many people so sensitive now when 50 years ago it seemed like nobody was? Simple, the genetic modification of foods make more gluten per piece of wheat when compared to a generation ago, poor nutrition overall, chronic stress (raised cortisol hurts immune tolerance), leaky gut syndrome, the storage of wheat products in huge bins on average of 2 years so the food can get covered in enterotoxins (waste product of fungus and mold), and overall lack of adequate digestive enzymes in our body.

This is why I insist on a full gluten panel of 12 tests for my prospective patients even before I accept a case. This test can be done with 1 vial of blood sent to a lab in Arizona that tests for all 12 potential gluten sensitivities specifically.

To sum up I have seen in my practice that when followed strictly a appropriate gluten-free diet is often life-transforming for symptomatic patients.

Allergic conjunctivitis, as well as sneezing and other evidence of allergy, is increasingly common in dogs. This may be related to where they live, or to changes in their immunity due to, for example, diet and exercise.

Conjunctivitis is inflammation of the conjunctiva, a layer of skin over the inner surface of the lids. Allergy occurs when the immune system over-reacts to a stimulus, mistakenly thinking it is an infection or cancer that it needs to fight off.

A dog with allergic conjunctivitis is likely to have redness, swelling and watering of one or both (usually both) eyes. There may be thickening of the conjunctiva, and if the dog is irritated to the extent that it scratches the eyes, there may be corneal abrasions and other eye damage.

No treatment ("watchful waiting") is a valid option if symptoms are very mild. Allergen avoidance is important, as far as it is possible. Bathing the eyes with a cool damp flannel may relieve some of the soreness and itching.

More severe allergic conjunctivitis will be treated with anti-inflammatory or antihistamine eye drops and ointments, and if any secondary bacterial infection is suspected, an antibiotic drop may be added. In severe cases a steroid drop will be used if treatment is otherwise unsuccessful.

Allergen testing may be needed to find the cause of the allergy.

Most holistic therapists and vets will look to the diet for a source of allergy. It is worth trying a hypo-allergenic diet. In addition, allergens are often airborne, so it is worth looking at environmental dust and pollution. Antioxidant supplements can help boost the immunity and reduce allergy.

Herbal Remedies: Burdock, Rosemary and Meadowsweet can all help with allergic conjunctivitis. Burdock (Arctium lappa) helps with detoxifying the tissues; Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) is antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, and Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) is another antiseptic and disinfectant. The eyes can be bathed in a decoction of fennel seed (Foeniculum vulgare), Eyebright (Euphrasia officinallis) or elder flower (Sambucus nigra) to reduce soreness and inflammation.

Homeopathy: Apis mel can be used to rinse sore eyelids; arsen alb is used for more watery eyes.

Relaxation therapy, spiritual healing and general stress reducing measures will aid recovery from allergic conjunctivitis, as well as other ill-health. Healing work on the Brow chakra will particularly benefit the eyes.

Blue lace agate is useful for eye problems when using a crystal healing.

Flower Remedies: Bach remedies will help an underlying emotional problem which may be contributing to reduced immunity and allergy.

I recently responded to a question asked on a website, whether anyone had the Carroll Food Intolerance Testing done and thought it was reliable. They explained how they had been tested but didn't take it seriously, that they were still suffering. They further questioned if maybe they have a wheat sensitivity.

This was my response:

Hello, I find it fascinating that you would go to the effort and expense of being tested and then not follow through, yet doubt the validity of the testing! Over 30 years ago I was evaluated by Dr. Harold Dick using the Carroll Food Intolerance testing method. It saved my life! I referred, and personally took others, to see him, now refer people to his daughter Dr. Letitia Dick (Windrose Naturopathic Clinic, Spokane WA.) and to Dr. Jared Zeff (Salmon Creek Clinic, Vancouver WA.). Countless patients can testify to being cured by these methods when nothing else worked. One acquaintance I know of had schlera derma, she was in incredible pain and the allopathic meds weren't helping. Dr. Dick tested her for food intolerances, she avoided them and not only did the swelling and pain go down but she was able to live without the meds.

The nature doctors know that every dis-ease known to man is created in the digestive system. It doesn't matter what the ailment is. The body is a healing machine if allowed to do what Nature intended it to. IBS is an obvious and immediate condition that points to something being ingested that the body is not able to break down and utilize, thus causing disruption and irritation. Without the proper digestive enzymes to break down the food, it then causes toxic reactions. We are all genetically predisposed to not having one digestive enzyme or another. Hence, the doctors using the Carroll Food Intolerance Test will evaluate the patient for a number of food categories.

I suggest you give it a try before touting that it doesn't work. I suspect you question that yourself, otherwise why bother asking others what results they've had? Aren't you just a little tired of searching for answers? And yet, it's right in front of you!

We have all been exposed to AMA indoctrination, and that of the western medical world. For over a century they have treated and out-rightly called Naturopathic physicians "witch-doctors." They have made fun of us to our faces when we inquired about natural options. Yet, their methods of treatment only address symptoms, not causes. In doing so, the immediate symptoms might be masked, but the body is still sick, and the problem will only arise somewhere else.

My personal food intolerances are potato and a combination of fruit/sugar. There are many derivatives and chemicals created from the different food categories, so it takes a little effort to totally avoid them.

It's worth a try, staying off the foods you've tested intolerant to. What have you got to lose but the pain and discomfort of being sick all the time?

I want to add something to this: It is common to feel sick and show symptoms of other dis-ease as the body goes through the healing process. It must reverse itself from the existing condition, basically going backwards, through the steps of chronic illness, through acute illness, then to wellness. It's possible, if this person was actually refraining from eating their food intolerances, that they may be going through healing crises on their way to reaching well being.

Best wishes. In Health,
Sandra

Contact dermatitis can be a response to your body's contact with nickel. Nickel is present in a number of items we use daily and don't think twice about. For example, some cell phone parts, zippers, jewelry, belt buckles and nutritional supplements can all contain it.

Some speculate the body piercings are one of the reasons that nickel allergy reactions are more prevalent today. Keep in mind that the nickel can be not just outside the skin when you have a piercing but also in side your skin. A snap for instance on your pants at top of zipper is outside your skin.

Often for contact dermatitis, cortisone creams are used to ease the inflammation and antihistamines relieve the itching. However, continued contact with the irritating substance or item will still create an allergic skin reaction. To continue to aggravate your skin while you soothe it at the same time doesn't assist your skin in healing.

When your body becomes sensitive to nickel, it often continues to increase. Usually the reaction is localized, but it can also become something that spreads through your whole system. Patch testing is a way to determine what is causing an allergic reaction and if nickel is one of the culprits. Allergists will test foods, check for dust mites and analyze chemicals and other environmental factors that may cause your reactions to get to the bottom of the problem.

Think about what you are in contact with at your office as well as your home to try to find out if you are having a reaction to nickel that is compromising your skin and creating an itchy skin rash. Even paper clips can be a cause so don't overlook items that may seem innocent.

Although most people of the medical community will admit that they don't have a clue about what really causes Idiopathic Thrombopathic Purpura (ITP), there are many astute doctors that have come to believe that the underlying causes of ITP are a combination of genetic and negative environmental factors. It is perplexing, that when exposed to the same toxic environmental stimulus, some people might develop cancer, others might develop Lupus, or asthma and still others may develop ITP disease. Surely this has to point to some sort of genetic predisposition or inherent weakness in the body.

When trying to come to some sort of conclusion as to what might be triggering your ITP, you must seriously consider what outside cause may be the culprit, you can either guess and eliminate potential antagonists bit by bit through trial and error (if you have the time and patience), or you can resort to much more accurate testing data made available through some Naturopathic practitioners, such as hair analysis for heavy metals or DNA testing with equipment such as the Avatar or Bio-tracker. These tests will immediately show what is antagonistic to your being. And then you are able to take immediate action.

If you are able to discern just what has been causing your low blood platelets, either by trial and error or high tech testing, by taking the proper course of action, you may reduce or eliminate completely the need for powerful and potentially dangerous medications, with horrible side effects or even the final insult to the body...spleen removal.

There are several environmental triggers that are known to cause and challenge a chronic immune response. Sad to say, that these factors are very often overlooked when diagnosing and evaluating people who have ITP.

Some of these factors are chronic infections and chronic allergies and food intolerances.

There is a lot to be said about the fact that allergic reactions to foreign substances cause an immediate immune response and that if left unchecked, soon will over load the immune system and cause it to go haywire, as in the case of itp, or other auto-immune disorders. It is unfortunate that most immune responses to allergens and intolerances to certain substances or foods, usually are not noticeable and is like a fire smoldering within, until the problem becomes so serious that dis-ease develops before the person even has the chance to realize it. That is why it is so important to know about your own body and what substances or foods you may or may not be able to tolerate.

When my Golden Retriever Sunshine first came to join our one dog - one woman household I thought that he was the smallest Golden puppy I had ever met. He wasn`t just small - he seemed to be someone who wasn't thriving.

Right from the start he suffered from a bladder infection and presented occasional outbursts of runny tummy.

Since I feed raw beef, tripe and chicken to my older Golden Sebastian and believe in the benefits of a raw meat diet I gradually changed the pup's food from the kibble his breeder had used to a diet of raw meat, vegetables and rice.

Not long after that the trouble started - his diarrhea became more frequent, he'd have me up mostly at night which did not please me at all!

First I put it down to some sort of infection - you know, those tummy bugs that dogs seem to pick up frequently.

As his motions improved I thought all was well again - only to discover the return of the problem a few days later.

As time went by I suspected some kind of adverse reaction to some of the foods I gave him. Indeed he seemed to be worse off after eating hearty chunks of beef but then again, he would also need to run when without beef.

Things became more and more confusing, not only to me but also to my vet. Sunshine was presenting himself with diarrhea as well as frequent vomiting after supper.

Perhaps there was something wrong with his pancreas? Blood tests did not confirm this suspicion.

In the end I took him to Gie?en University Clinic where they did all sorts of blood tests and x- rayed his stomach and intestines - everything was fine, no parasites, no bugs could be found...

They advised me to put him on a diet of just one source of protein plus one source of carbohydrates for eight weeks and see what the results would be.

This didn't sound like a very good idea to me but it set me off in the right direction - why not have a proper allergy test done?

My vet thought it would be a waste of money since she didn't support the allergy hypothesis and advised me to try the eight weeks restriction diet instead.

Of course we followed through with the test sending a blood sample to a lab I had used before for allergy testing. The results which came back after a few days didn't make me happy at all. Sunshine is allergic to beef, cow's milk and dairy products as well as all grains, to potatoes and rice. He can, however, eat chicken, venison and lamb.

With all those allergy triggers it was no surprise that he reacted with diarrhea to most foods I gave to him in the attempt to cure his upset tummy.

The lamb and rice tins for sensitive dogs had given him the runs because of the rice, the lamb and potato treats had given him runs because of the potatoes, all special diets for upset stomachs contained milk protein and so on.

There would have been no way to end his diarrhea without proper allergy testing.

As the results came back my vet insisted that I should feed him on one source of protein for eight weeks in order to set things straight. I did not do this because from allergy research in humans we know that one may become allergic to foods when he consumes them all the time.

Instead I started feeding Sunshine on a diet of venison, chicken, eggs, bananas and vegetables, avoiding grains and potatoes. The diarrhea vanished and has not returned since, the dog put on the much needed weight and is growing stronger day by day.

This experience taught me a valuable lesson. Next time I own a dog who shows signs of diarrhea on a regular basis, checking him for allergies will be one of the first measures I'll take.