Peanut Allergies- Tests and Diagnoses
By Aram
To ascertain whether or not you suffer from the peanut allergy, it
becomes important to visit a doctor and go for a physical examination.
In addition to this, one will need to answer questions ranging from
family history to diet. After this, you might need to visit an allergist
and that might lead to certain tests before ascertaining that you are
allergic to peanuts.
In fact you can be either peanut intolerance or peanut allergic. In case
of peanut intolerance, one can usually eat small portions of peanut and
the reaction is very little as either a small heat-burn, indigestion or
in some cases there is no symptom at all. In such people the immune
system is not involved at all. However, even a minuscule of peanut can
trigger extreme allergic reaction in a person who is suffering from
peanut allergy. Thus determining the severity is also very essential to
save a person’s life and it is possible through appropriate tests.
The investigations range from a simple blood test to a skin-prick test
to advanced Food challenges test.
Blood Test: It is often referred to as RAST (Radioallergosorbent test)
that aims to measure the amount of antibody IgE (immunoglobulin E)
present in your bloodstream. Thus, this test helps to ascertain
sensitivity of an individual to peanuts.
Skin-prick Test: This test helps to know the sensitivity of your skin to
peanuts. In this examination, the skin is pricked and left open cut
exposing small amounts of protein that are found in the peanuts to
observe the sensitivity reaction. If a person is allergic, he will
instantly develop a rash and a hive at the location where the skin is
exposed to the allergen (in this case a peanut-based material).
Food Challenge Test: This test is done mainly when history of the
patient suggests allergic tendency but confirmatory tests yield negative
results. Food Challenge test is extremely important and useful for
making the final diagnosis.
It is advisable to get allergy tests done by allergy specialists to be
aware of the degree of sensitivity accurately. |
