Allergies and diagnostics
Faced with suspicious signs of
allergy, it is more reasonable to see a doctor for a diagnosis well to take a
good care of the patient.
When to see an allergist?
When an allergy is suspected, it is
advisable to consult a doctor for an accurate diagnosis of the signs and
allergens cause.
The first step is to consult the
physician who must provide all necessary information on the signs that we
suffer for easy diagnosis. For him to refer the patient to the allergist.
The allergist allergy conduct a
survey to identify the specific offending allergens and then establish measures
for the prevention and treatment of allergic reactions.
How to confirm the allergy?
The interview is an important step
in the direction of diagnosing allergies mentioning
- The reason for consultation
- A description of the signs and
their evolution since the beginning until the day of consultation
- Personal or family history of
allergy (parents, uncles and aunts, cousins)
- The patient's environment: the
description of the home, the presence of animals, the presence of plants, the
presence of carpet or duvets or pillows feathers ....
- Eating habits
- Lifestyle: business travel,
leisure ...
- Drug therapy during
The allergist then performed skin
tests on the arm or back in order to identify allergens. Skin tests are to
cause skin contact with several allergens and then wait for the reaction that
follows. The appearance of redness and / or swelling at the point of contact
confirmed allergic sensitivity to the test substance. These skin tests are used
in order to know how fast and painless the responsible allergen and can be
performed even in young children.
There are several types of skin
tests. (Antihistamines should be discontinued at least 3 days before skin
testing to avoid distorting the results).
The prick test
Is to place a small drop of the
suspected allergen on the skin of the patient. Then the doctor pricks through
this drop. After 15 to 20 minutes, if a reaction occurs at the point of
injection (itching, redness resembling a mosquito bite), the allergen tested is
the one who caused the signs of allergies in the patient.
The patch test
Recommended by the doctor primarily
in search of allergen responsible for eczema. The test patch, as a sticker
contains the suspected allergen (but in small quantities), and will be applied
to the skin of the upper back of the patient for 2 days. If the reaction is
positive (redness, itching, local swelling), the allergen tested is causing
contact dermatitis patient.
The intradermal
This technique is mainly used to
test drugs or poisons. It involves injecting the allergen (the tested drug or
poison is diluted and administered in very small quantities) at the skin of the
outer arm. A positive test is characterized by redness, swelling, itching at
the injection region.
The allergy can be confirmed by
blood tests in the laboratory. They are to look for in the patient's blood
directed against the suspected allergen antibodies. The presence of these
antibodies confirms the allergic patient's sensitivity to the test substance.
The blood test is performed if the skin test does not give sufficiently
accurate and does not need to be fasting.
Faced with difficulties in
diagnosis, there are tests of oral or nasal provocation, but the risk of
complications associated with these tests justify that they are used as a last
resort and in a strictly controlled environment.
SHARE THIS POST
