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ALLERGIES
How to test for a true allergy?
A so called true allergy is an immediate reaction (IgE mediated) which involves antibodies that cause tissue mast cells to release histamines. The result: Inflammation and swelling of the tissue.
Provoking foods (Antibody reaction/IgE-mediated)
Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Shellfish, Fish, Eggs, Soy, Wheat, Cow’s Milk, Fruit, Vegetables.
The IgE blood test looks at the total amount of antibodies. The most commonly used is the RAST-test (radio-allergosorbent test). For the SPT (skin prick test) a small drop of liquid containing an allergen is placed on the arm. With a small prick in the skin, a miniscule amount of the allergen to get into the skin. The test is positive if a red bump develops soon afterwards.
Both tests are not 100% accurate.
(There are some good news for the allergy sufferer: The EU labelling laws will change again. Labels must carry warnings for: Products containing gluten, sesame seeds, shellfish, fish, peanuts, mustard, milk, eggs, cellery, and soy. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland there are already warnings for histamines on food labels).
Why the increase in allergies?
Five environmental factors:
1. HOUSING – the humidity and temperature of our homes and work/social environments have risen to levels that encourage high numbers of house dust mites (faecal droppings which contain allergens. Also: the increase in the use of soft furniture, the growing pet population AND the fact that people spend more and more time indoors.
2. DIET – half a century ago most food was fresh. Nowadays much of it is processed and contains additives (and fewer natural minerals, vitamins and antioxidants).
3. FAMILY SIZE – children from smaller families seem to be more likely to develop an allergy. This is thought to be because they are exposed to fewer viral infections (frequent infections in early life promote a switch to the non-allergic state).
4. ANTIBIOTICS – the increasing use of antibiotics in early life (and their inclusion in foodstuffs via animal feed) may alter the balance of the friendly germs found on the skin and in the bowel.
5. MICROBES - the ability of bacteria and other microbes to adapt very quickly to new "environments".
FOOD INTOLERANCES
... Now we enter a grey area in which thousands of practitioner do thousands of different tests with the result: they confuse the patient/client more and more (and in the end the vast majority will tell the patient, who paid a lot of money for "tests" to avoid wheat and dairy!)
There is no antibody for intolerances, although some practitioner and some labs believe, that they can test food intolerances with the immunoglobulin G (IgG). One of these tests is the York Test and it is not too astonishing, that one patient who did send in different drops of blood under different names received completely different test results.
Reliable tests are secondary tests, like:
# Absorption tests
# Test for intestinal transit time
# Bacterial/microbial tests
more about the tests we offer on the "Tests in our MSML Laboratory"-Page
Tests to avoid:
Vega, Bicom, Quantum, NAET (Nampudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique), Live-Blood Analysis, Dried-Blood Analysis,Provocation-Neutralisation Test, Auriculo-Cardiac Reflex, Hair Analysis Testing, Hair-Pendulum Test.
HISTAMINE INTOLERANCES/INTOLERANCES TO BIOGENIC AMINES
Foods are made up of many natural occuring compounds and they have varying effects on us.
Biogenic amines are formed by the breakdown of proteins into amino acids in foods. They are normally quickly broken down with the help of specific enzymes. Missing or sluggish enzymes can lead to a build up of biogenic and trace amines. (Examples: Tyramines, Agmatine, Putrescine, Spermidine, Histamines, etc.) This can lead to mild and more serious diseases, can increase intolerance levels and a build up of amines leads in most cases to misdiagnosis especially in IBS related symptoms, migraines, mild depression, skin problems, etc.
2-5% of all adults suffer from Histamine Intolerance (HIT). This official estimate (source: T. Schleip, Germany) shows that HIT (also: enteral histaminosis) is now a vastly more serious health problem than all food allergies put together!
Digestive problems (prolonged diarrhoea or constipation), bloating, stomach pain, heartburn, tension headaches, migraines, palpitation, low blood pressure, urticaria, hay fever and asthma can all be signs of a histamine intolerance (HIT). Histamines are biogenic amines like tyramines, cadaverines, putrescines, etc. which all can trigger allergy-like reactions. Incorrect diagnoses in the past and present lead to unnecessary suffering for those affected (including the diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS, often used when a conventional or complimentary practitioner is at his/hers wits' end). Pain and suffering has often been dismissed as psychosomatic.
Today food scientists and allergists suspect that approximately 15% of all asthma-cases are causally related with HIT/amine-cases. Food allergies are IgE mediated (creation of antibodies). This immune reaction does not happen in a Histamine Intolerance. This is the reason why HIT is a so called pseudo-allergy. The only way to detect a HIT is a very detailed and restricted elimination-diet and a test for the enzymes Diaminoxidase (DAO) and N-methyltransferase).
What is a histamine? ... this chemical substance has been known about for 90 years and is a by-product of the amino acid histidine. You find histamines in many foods, especially in those with a prolonged shelf-life. Many producers are not ready or willing to put details of the histamine quantities on their food labels (like on some products in Germany and Switzerland). Because the body creates histamine as well (it is used, as one example, to stimulate secretion of stomach acid or cell growth and is stored in mast cells and in basophile granulocytes), we differentiate between histamine-rich foods and foods which act as histamine-liberators.
The diamin-oxidase (DAO), an enzyme that acts in the intestines, does break down the histamines. However, in case of a HIT the DAO is too weak and the release of the histamines creates the following problems:
disturbances of the digestive system,
vasodilution of the circulatory system,
disturbances of the central nervous system,
skin changes,
disturbances in the respiratory system.
Dirk Budka is an expert in Enteral Histaminosis/Histamine Intolerance and Intolerances to other Biogenic Amines for many years. His new book about Histamine Intolerance will be released in 2009.
For tests regarding these intolerances CLICK HERE
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