<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
Here are a couple of responses to my question regarding A) what is the
ELISA test and B) what are all the tests about, anyway?
A. ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbant assay) is a blood test that detects
specific antigens/antibodies using enzymes that attach to the antigen and
then are read with special machines.
B. >I don't think there is a "best" test. What there is:
>
>- skin scratch/patch tests. They only identify IgE-mediated allergies,
> and don't do a very good job of classifying their severity, and often
> give results misleading in both directions (reporting allergies that
> don't exist and failing to find those that do) but they're quick, cheap
> and cover a lot of things at once.
>
>- cytotoxic blood tests. Pretty crude and inaccurate, and vary all over the
> place if you repeat them, but cover a wide range of types of reaction -
> primarily IgG (immune responses) but maybe some funny stuff we don't
> understand yet and which more precise tests miss.
>
>- ELISA tests. Very selective, work for IgE, IgG, and Candida-specific IgA,
> expensive, measure severity of reactions, but quite new and so there isn't
> a lot of clinical experience in interpreting the results. Maybe the wave
> of the future. Also work for detecting Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium
> responsible for stomach ulcers.
>
>- radioallergosorbent tests (RAST). Detects IgE and related allergies.
> See Brostoff and Gamlin's _The Complete Guide to Food Allergy and
> Intolerance_ for more information about these. I don't think they're
> widely used at present; since they involve the lab in handling mildly
> radioactive materials they must be a pain in the bum from a regulatory
> standpoint.
>
>- hair testing. Worthless crank mumbo-jumbo. (But hair analysis *can*
> give useful information about nutrient deficiencies and some kinds of
> chronic poisoning, if it's done right).
C. National Biotechnology Lab in Seattle (recently bought by some other
company, Great Smokey something-or-other, that raised its prices to the max
that Medicare would allow...) has a couple of web sites to find info on
testing and doctor referrals:
http://www.nbtl.com and http:www.gsdl.com
Another resource I found was Doris Rapp's book, IS THIS YOUR CHILD?
DISCOVERING AND TREATING UNRECOGNIZED ALLERGIES IN CHILDREN AND ADULTS,
William Morrow, NY, 1991, ISBN# 0-688-11907-7... It was pretty cheap
($12.00US), thick and full of info on something called
provocation/neutralization testing and therapy-- apparently a pretty
controversial treatment for allergies, esp. food allergies, that claims to
have great results-- I don't know about that part, but the book discusses a
huge variety of allergy symptoms, everything from hyperactivity to
bedwetting and asthma-- one main point is the brain is an organ affected by
allergy, too. Anyway, she also gives some case hystories and tells how to
do the Single Food/Multiple Food elimination diets as well as the Practical
Rotary Diet to detect allergies.
(We're trying the Rotary with our three year old and I think he may be
reacting to corn... he's already "out" on wheat and dairy! Oh, well.)
confused as ever,
Jeanne
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