At 11:21 AM 4/29/97 -0230, "R.L. Bynum" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>   We, too, were very hopeful when we first went to have allergy testing
>done, but it in the end it raised more questions than it answered. We felt
>sure Alex was allergic to milk when he first went for skin tests, but when
>the test  was negative, we were told that he wasn't allergic and we should
>give him milk.

>    Regarding some of the posts about delayed reactions, Alex's reaction to
>milk is delayed about 12 hours. Our current allergist says he is probably
>reacting not to whole milk, but to some fragment of milk protein that
>appears during digestion. This is why he doesn't show a reaction to milk on
>a standard allergy test.

The reason he doesn't show a reaction to standard allergy tests is because
they only test for IgE antibodies. There are some five Immunoglobins. IgE
is produced by the immune system and produces immediate reactions. Also
called histamine reactions. Digestive reactions come from IgG and IgA
antibodies that are produced in the digestive system. Only blood tests can
find these. Even then antibodies are only created by the body when it sees
the offending food. So in an infant RAST/ELISA can't test for foods never
eaten.

Don.