Symptoms of Food Allergies

    Infants and Children

    Food allergies are more common in early childhood than at any other time in life. With food allergies on the rise in recent years, more infants are being affected, and this is perhaps the most difficult segment of the population to accurately diagnose. Some early symptoms of food allergy in infancy often go undiagnosed, and sadly, 'colic' is often diagnosed, giving a label, but not really providing any relief to parents who are at the end of their rope, with a crying infant, who can not be calmed. Early symptoms of food allergy are most often skin related (eczema), or gastrointestinal (vomiting, reflux, painful gas, diarrhea, blood in stool, frequent and/or loose stools).

  • Infants and Children

    Allergy Testing

    Allergy testing is not a perfect science, but it is a very important starting point in the diagnosis and management of food allergies. Doctors' preferences vary widely regarding the age at which they will first test a child. I am familiar with instances of some children being tested in the first months of life, and then on the other hand, there are doctors who will not test before the age of 5. It is my personal belief that if a child is having possible allergic symptoms, then testing is required, regardless of age.

    There is some question as to the accuracy of allergy testing on infants, but again, what is the cost of not testing and therefore not diagnosing? In my own personal experience, one allergist we dealt with would not perform RAST testing on my daughter. His reasoning was financial cost, and the inability to test a significant quantity of items per sample. With a child who has an anaphylactic allergy to milk and eggs, I could not agree at all to his reasoning. In-vitro testing (RAST and Immuno Cap RAST), when combined with skin testing are very valuable tools in evaluating the progression of an allergy through a childs' life.

    Pharmacia's Immuno Cap RAST is considered 'gold standard' in allergy testing, and in one study, RAST results were often unreliable compared to Cap RAST results. If you want a more reliable to tool to evaluate your child's allergy each year, request the Immuno Cap RAST, along with skink prick testing when you visit the allergist.

  • General Allergy - Testing Questions and Answers

  • Extensive Information on how food allergies are diagnosed

  • RAST Testing
  • Skin Testing

  • Understanding Allergic Airway Syndrome

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