Private MD News

Food allergies may be underdiagnosed

Updated: 2010-05-27 20:22:28 CST Category: Allergy Testing

Many Americans believe they have no tolerance for certain foods, but food allergy testshave shown that a far smaller percentage of the population actually has a condition.

This may be because some people misinterpret their body's reaction to certain foods, but some doctors believe it is because current food allergy tests may be flawed.

This prompted MIT researcher Christopher Love to design a new food allergy test which analyzes immune cells which can allow for more precise measurements of how an individual's body may react to certain foods, like milk and peanuts.

Love said that some current allergy tests are unreliable because a variety of circumstances could lead to some people's test results, but a simple blood test could accurately diagnose most conditions.

"With a large number of diagnoses, it's ambiguous," he said. "A lot of times it's almost circumstantial whether you're allergic to one thing or another."

Currently between six and eight percent of children under the age of four have diagnosed food allergies and four percent of the rest of Americans have been diagnosed, according to the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

Related Articles from Private MD:

• New food allergy test may better predict the condition
  
• Standardized food allergy test needed, experts say
  
• Survey shows that food allergies are on the rise
  
• Low vitamin D levels linked to increased asthma symptoms in children
  
• Bisphenol A exposure linked to increased risk of allergic asthma
  

Subscribe to Private MD Health News RSS Feed:

Visit the Health News Archive: Click Here

Questions about online blood testing or how to order a lab test? Click here to get started or call us toll-free at 1.877.283.7882. Our certified professionals are ready to assist you.