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I was told that my daughter had a milk allergy as an infant. Now a toddler, she's since "grown out of it," but I've never been completely convinced that she was ever really allergic to dairy. For one, the skin prick test came up negative for milk or casein.
But her doctor said she still probably had a sensitivity to it.
How could she know that for sure, especially if the test said just the opposite? Do you withhold an entire food group from a child based on an educated guess?
Turns out even a positive allergy test is not all it's cracked up to be, according to a recent article in the LA Times. And blood tests -- the type most non-specialist primary care MDs use -- are often incorrect or the doctor reads them wrong.
The most accurate way to tell a true allergy is through a food challenge. This is where patients consume controlled and increasing doses of a suspected food under careful supervision. My doctor never did that with my daughter.
While food allergies and intolerances do appear to be on the rise (18 percent in children over the last decade), so do the number of people (or kids) who erroneously think they have them. Studies indicate that only 25 percent of people (or kids) supsected of having a food allergy actually have one.
Take one recent study of 125 children, average age 4, diagnosed with 60 food allergies. They went through a series of food challenges, including milk, peanuts, eggs and soy.
About 90 percent of the suspected allergies were negative.
At the end of the study, the researchers were able to reintroduce at least four and as many as 20 foods into each child's diet.
The moral of this story: Make sure your child's doctor knows how to read allergy tests. Better yet, ask for a food challenge to make sure you're not needlessly eliminating a food your child loves.
CafeMom has several groups to tap for food allergy info and discussion:
Mom with Kids with Severe Food Allergies
Reflux, Food Allergy, GI, and Sensory Issues
How were your child's food allergies diagnosed? Did the doctor use a skin prick, blood test, or food challenge? Are you still skeptical?
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Stephanie is a Surrogate Mom
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Emma Lives with Severe Food Allergies
Comments (10)
Just remember that it goes the other way too. Children can have allergies that don't show up on tests. I know the moral here was that allergy tests aren't that reliable one way or the other and I agree with that. I just listen to my childs body and behavior instead.
Yeah- they call it the practice of medicine for a reason- both of my children HAVE food allergies, severe actually and one Dr. actually told us that they do nt have the allergy simply because children don't normally have this only adults. The next Dr. we saw (from the same group) said "oh, yes, this is most ceartinly an allergy and a very dangerous one as well- don't leave the home without an epipen" so..... it really does go both ways and like the above said listening to your child's body is extremely important, and often the best test.
Well, my own allergies were pretty obvious when I was young. I was about 6 and I was helping my mom and sister make rum balls for Christmas and it was my job to roll them in the chopped walnuts. I ended up with hives all the way up my arms! I am still VERY allergic to all nuts and sesame seeds to this day. I was very cautious when my boys were younger and trying new foods, but luckily, none seem to have any allergies at all!
It's true that close & proper attention should be made when using tests to diagnose food allergies-- in our case, we already knew of my son's peanut allergy (because of a scary experience), but through blood testing we also found out he had an allergy to egg whites. I refused to believe it since I'd never noticed a reaction before. But, once I took away the eggs from his diet, his eczema disappeared. I couldn't chock it up to pure coincidence. It made me less wary about allergy testing. But, to echo the previous posts, paying attention to your child's reactions and experiences is definitely number one.
This seems like a no-brainer to me... don't go to a general practioner to get tested for allergies. Go to an ALLERGIST!
cindycindy, that's true... but as a child I went to an allergist who purposely messed up testing on me. As a result I spent most of my childhood in a doctors office getting weekly shots and not eating.. .welll... ANYTHING. I was very malnourished. If my parents had thought to get a second opinion from ANYONE, allergist or not... it would have saved me alot of trouble growing up.
I have a gluten intolerance and a dairy intolerance. I also have acid reflux as a result so I stay away from it. When my son was born he too had acid reflux and we later learned that my allergies could be his allergies. I had someone tell me "If your son denies something REALLY listen to him." So every time I would force milk on him he would scream with stomach aches. When he doesn't want it there is a reason. I mean it is different than picky eaters since he eats everything and a lot of it. So if he won't eat it there is a reason.
You can survive without milk and gluten thankfully but it takes a full swing of learning how to supplement with other foods so you don't have to rely on vitamins (since those do contain gluten). My son does have dairy every once in a while where as I can't. And he does have foods with gluten in it as well every once in a while but he is happy doing with out. He also is a very well developed healthy boy.
When you take something away from their diet you need to put something back to fill that void. If they are lacking calcium research what other types of foods have Calcium in them. You can easily get your full serving of calcium with a full serving of vegetables. Soy milk, Rice milk, and Almond milk have also been fortified with vitamins as well.
You or your children might have allergies but they don't have to run your life or even ruin your life.
Keytar Mom That is soooo true. Allergies are usually thought of as choking, breathing issues, or even rashes. But people don't bother to think that Acne can be a result of allergies as well as other skin irritations.
my son has a really rare red dye allergy, so since we found out about it we've been going away from almost anything processed. so, his allergy actually made us healthier! we have had to fight some pharmacies to get his precriptions with no red dye, I actually had a woman tell me that just because it was pink didn't mean it had red... ohhh did she ever hear it from me!