Allergy Testing

I've spoken in an older rambling about my allergic rhinitis, how difficult it was for the doctors to come up with a correct diagnosis and how much I had to suffer before getting the appropriate treatment for my ailment.

Allergy testing is something that I should have started with, if my family doctor was a bit more science-aware. He's not bad, but I believe he has a limited experience, because he doesn't read the latest medical journals, he never attends the specialists conferences, so he doesn't know about the latest state of the art treatments for diseases that cannot be cured, like this allergy. Testing for allergy is so simple. that when I discovered it, I was so sorry that he didn't think to make me do it earlier.

Types of Allergy Testing

1. Intradermal testing: the patient is injected a very small quantity from the suspected allergen substance under the skin. Multiple tests can be done at once, provided that the doctor or the nurse writes nearby each mark what allergen was used (like peanuts, dust, pollen, mold...). After some 30 minutes of waiting, the marks are examined: the bigger they get, the more allergic you are to the respective trigger.

2. Prick tests: this kind of allergy testing is very similar to the intradermal testing, but instead of injecting the substance, the skin is scratched and a drop of each allergen is poured on the scratch, also writing on the skin the names of the testing substances.

3. RAST and ELIZA tests: sometimes, especially if a very strong allergic reaction is suspected, intradermal testing and prick tests can be very dangerous, and even lethal. In such situations, it is advisable that the patient is taken a blood sample, and the tests are performed on that, without endangering life. The results of this type of allergy testing come after a few weeks.

If I only knew allergy testing was so easy! Not cheap, but affordable, and it improved my life.

Dog Allergy

As a person who had raised pets all my life, I've often been asked what I think about dog allergy. Well, maybe 40 years ago I would have considered this allergy a bad joke, and not only in dogs or other pets, but in humans as well. I never believed allergies were real, and I suspected all people who claimed to be allergic of hypocrisy.

Is Dog Allergy For Real?

Lately, especially since I've been diagnosed myself with various degrees of allergy (from mild to severe) to pollen, dust, and several foods, I started to pay more attention to allergen substances that surround us in all seasons, and particularly in spring, and I've noticed that allergy is not the exclusive privilege of mankind, but dogs can suffer from allergic reactions also.

For instance, Timmy, my dear Scottish Terrier, used to get teary eyes and running nose each time we went to play in the park during spring. In the same time, he seemed to be scratching more often than usual, so I accused a skin disease. The dermatological tests our vet recommended did not show any ailment, however, he manifested the same symptoms after every walk. Then a friend of mine told me about the possibility of dog allergy, which I vehemently denied in the beginning. How could a dog be allergic?

How Can Dog Allergy Be Diagnosed

Intrigued by my friend's words, I asked my allergy specialist and he told me that yes, it is also possible for a dog to develop an allergy. He recommended me to bring in Timmy to get him tested for the most known allergens.
The allergy tests for dogs can be done in the same way they are done on people: either by taking a blood sample and make it react with various substances, or by intradermal skin testing.
As my dog was very young, I feared letting him get injected all those things under his skin, so I decided for letting the doctor take some blood and get it analyzed.

To make a long story short, it came out that my little dog was allergic to birch pollen. As avoidance of the allergen is many times the best treatment, I never brought Timmy into the park during the spring days and his dog allergy symptoms almost disappeared.

Is Allergy Contagious?

As an old allergic, such remarks make me laugh each time I hear them: "is allergy contagious?" or "is there a vaccine to prevent catching an allergy?" or "which is the incubation period for allergy?".

I can understand people who are in good health are not interested in such morbid details, but once they learn they've got a disease, they should try to educate themselves, to get some information about the lifestyle of other people who got the same ailment.

Allergy is one of the most neglected, thus most dangerous diseases which have no cure and not vaccine yet.

To answer now the first question, no, allergy is not contagious, but it is believed to be genetically inherited, so if you have antecedents in your family you should get yourself tested for the most common allergens, because you are at high risk.

Where Do Allergy To Pets Come From

There is a misconception that allergies to pets are due to the fur they leave all over the place. While this may contain a grain of truth, I feel obliged to inform you that it is not the fur people are usually allergic to, but a protein which is contained in the animal saliva.

This makes especially cats the most susceptible to trigger allergic reactions in their owners. That's because cats groom themselves a lot, while other animals like dogs, or Guinea pigs, or whatever other fury animal do it only occasionally.

So, cats are in the top of the list of suspects, and no matter how much you love them and you want them around you, once you've been diagnosed as allergic to cat dander, then you need to break apart from your tiny friend, because it can cause you a horrible death by suffocation. Substances like cat dander, also called allergens, are the factors which trigger a violent response from the human immune system, because the body of an allergic person perceived them as harmful invaders, and all leukocytes gather together to fight and neutralize the enemy.

Sometimes, the shock can be so powerful that it causes major swelling of all organs. What do you think it happens when your tongue swells?

You guessed right, it narrows so much the food and air passage in your throat that it makes breathing almost impossible. In such cases, only a very quick intervention from the paramedics can save your life. It is only a matter of minutes which draw the limit between life and death, so each second is worth millions.

However, if you are very keen on having a cat, then you need to have a fat wallet: there is a new cats breed which has been genetically modified to prevent the secretion of that protein which acts like an allergen for humans. I've read the news somewhere, I hope to find it again and give you the link. As far as I remember, those anti-allergic cats were crazy expensive: several thousands of dollars. But if you have the money and you feel like you cannot live without a cat, this is the way to go: get one of these science children and forget about your allergy to pets once for all.

Allergic Rhinitis: A Challenge To Diagnose

I don't know how many of you have heard about allergic rhinitis in their life. If you did, then you know how sneaky this disease can be when it comes to diagnosing it in early stages of evolution.

Briefly, allergic rhinitis is a condition which interests mostly the eyes and the upper part of the respiratory system. The symptoms can differ from one patient to another, but they include running, teary eyes, sensation of sand in the eyes, redness of sclerotics, running and itchy nose, long cascades of sneezing, and sometimes dry cough which persists for more than one month.

I found an article on Medline Plus which explains all these much better than I'm able to do: read it here.

What I want to say: because it looks so much like a common cold, allergic rhinitis is usually diagnosed very late, after months or even years of struggle with the embarrassing symptoms. Let's take the dust mite allergies situation, when you go to the theater, and your allergic rhinitis is triggered by the dust: many times I just had to leave before the play ended, because I was sneezing and coughing continuously, disturbing the actors and the other spectators with my noises. If only I knew that some OTC antihistamine medication would have solved my problem, allowing me to enjoy the theater!

But I was diagnosed very late. Besides, I had to suffer all kinds of treatments for other respiratory diseases (which I did not suffer from). These treatments interacted with my undiscovered disease, triggering even more severe allergic reactions from my poor immune system, which was troubled like hell.

as an advice to all of you who may be reading this: listen to the old lady and go to the doctor for every cough or cold which lasts longer than one week, or which recurs every month or so. Ask for specific allergy tests - they do not hurt and they will help doctors sort out your case much faster.

Most Common Allergens

What are allergens? You have probably noticed that you get some symptoms like sneezing when you get in close contact with some substances like pollen or dust. Any substance that triggers an allergic response from the body is called an allergen.

There is no cure for allergy. The best you can do is to avoid getting in contact with allergens you know you are allergic to. Additionally, you can take antihistamines in order to alleviate your symptoms. Unfortunately, some allergens cannot be removed for good from our lives. For example, dust is everywhere, so it would be impossible to eliminate it all. but you can do the house cleaning using gloves and a mask, so you protect yourself from inhaling the dust which triggers your allergic reactions.

These are some of the most common allergens known today:

• pollen from plans like birch trees, rye grass, flowers
• foods (all kinds of nuts, cereals, soy, cow’s milk, cheese, yoghurt, seafoods, eggs, apples, tomatoes)
• mold spores
• dust (dust mites - those tiny organisms which live in the dust and which are pretty much everywhere)
• drugs like penicillin, which derives in fact from molds
  
• insect stings (bees, wasps, or sometimes even mosquitoes)
• animal products (hairs, saliva proteins) - allergy to cats is one of the most common forms of the disease
  
• latex (household gloves, rubber toys, balloons)
• cold
  
• effort: some people can develop allergic reactions after they make a sustained effort like running or aerobics
  
• chemicals like chlorine which is usually poured into the water at swimming pools

Whatever your allergens may be, remember that you need to stay away from them as much as you can. Permanent contact with allergens will increase your sensitivity and aggravate your allergy symptoms.

When To Suspect You Suffer From Allergy

Almost all allergy sufferers have gone through an unpleasant diagnosis process, which took from a couple of months to even several years. Allergy is a smart disease: it can be easily taken from a cold or a flu, and sometimes it can give such unexpected reactions that it amazes even the most experienced doctors.

This is a series of symptoms which should trigger an alarm bell for you and determine you to ask for some allergy testing:

• Eyes running or going red and irritated for no reason
• Nose running for no reason
• Skin irritations or hives which occur repeatedly
• Swelling of different parts of your body (like limbs or face)
• Annoying sneezing reprises occurring often
• Dry cough which persists for more than a week
• Suffocation sensation
  
• Frequent colds: this signals a deficient immune system, which can be an open gate for allergies and other diseases
  

Although some of these symptoms are only creating a slight discomfort in your daily life, you should treat them seriously and get some tests done.

Allergy is very tricky: the more you expose yourself to the substance triggering an allergic reaction, the more your diseases worsens. Taking OTC medication to alleviate the symptoms would only result in giving allergy the time to grow even stronger, and in time, your symptoms will become bigger and bigger, until your life will turn into a nightmare of sneezing, itching, swelling and choking. In situations like food or drug allergies, these may become life threatening, due to the swelling of internal organs.

There Is No Cure For Allergy

Allergy has been the true challenge of my life for so many years! My parents discovered it when I was only 5, because I was always complaining I cannot breathe properly and I caught very often colds, my eyes and nose were running for no reason, and I used to have all kinds of itches.

It's useless to say that it took a long journey for the doctors to discover what was wrong with me: all blood tests came out just perfect and yet I was not feeling well. Then my mother noticed that the symptoms would become more noticeable during spring, and that eating some foods like apples or tomatoes resulted in my skin getting irritated and pestered by occasional hives.

One day, a smart physician, after listening to my mom describing all those symptoms I used to have, thought to run some allergy tests on me. That was the beginning of a long and painful journey, as the prick tests came out positive to so many allergens that it was an wonder I was still alive and kicking.

Discipline started to rule our house. My parents changed the way they lived, in order to alleviate my ailment as much as possible: they renovated all rooms, they dried out the basement (which was usually full of water and mold), they put nets at all windows to prevent flying insects to get into the house.

Now, at more than 60 years of age, I discovered these online diaries and I decided to share my experience and my thoughts on allergy, health and various other things which made my life and shaped my character into what I am today.

I don't know if anybody is going to read my ramblings, but for those who accidentally (or not) will discover these pages, I hope to offer them a support in fighting the allergy and its challenges, in managing to live a normal life despite the multitude of allergens which dominate our world, our polluted cities and our homes.

Although incurable, allergy is a handicap that can be overcome through discipline and perseverance and through some little tricks like buying air dehumidifiers if you live in high humidity climate areas.