I recently attended an online webinar entitled "When plants and allergies collide", organised by the Anaphylaxis Campaign with Dr Isabel Skypala of the Royal Bromsgrove Hospital presenting. To say it was an eye opener would be an understatement. I know all about allergies and I thought I knew quite a bit about Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS) but I'd never even heard of Lipid … [Read more...]
New guidelines for diagnosing food allergy
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) have today published guidelines on diagnosing food allergy in children in a primary care and community setting. These are the first allergy related guidelines to be delivered and they aim to give information to health professionals in primary care on how to suspect and diagnose food allergy and when to refer on to … [Read more...]
Does patch testing work?
Patch tests are a way of exploring and pin pointing atopic allergens that could be affecting your skin in every day life e.g. perfumes, washing powders, preservatives and cosmetics to name just a few. The procedure involves three visits to the allergy clinic, once for the initial application, usually first thing on a Monday morning. Then a second visit midweek (after approx. … [Read more...]
Skin prick tests for allergies
After my recent experience having skin prick tests for various suspected allergens I would advise anyone who is struggling to identify what they are allergic to to give it a go. Speak to your doctor and request a referral to your local allergy clinic. Be warned, waiting lists can be very long; I waited over six months for my first appointment, but once you get there subsequent … [Read more...]
Avoid, reintroduce or desensitise allergens
I’ve been reading more this week about the doctors at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. I’ve tried to contact Addenbrooke’s hospital to ask them for more information about their amazing trials, so far to no avail. Since the well publicised article back in February 2009 about the children who were gradually desensitised to their peanut allergies, we’ve seen lots of articles … [Read more...]