Allergy Information

Allergy Symptoms:

Symptoms of allergy can be very unpleasant and include sneezing, shortness of breath, itching, rashes (hives), sickness and abdominal or digestive problems.  In extreme cases serious breathing conditions and a very serious condition called anaphylaxis can occur.

If you think you may be suffering from an allergic reaction, it is important to identify the source of the problem. Imutest can help you do this, or alternatively a negative result can reassure you that you do not have a true allergy.

As Dr Chris Steele, GP and advisor to ITV's This Morning commented ...

"Quick, reliable and convenient home allergy testing gives people the knowledge to take the next steps towards choosing the most appropriate course of action whether it be a doctors appointment, an over the counter treatment or lifestyle changes such as house dust mite or cat avoidance which could considerably improve their quality of life."

Diagnosing Allergy:

Diagnosis of allergy is based on a combination of the relevant information in your medical history together with the results of an allergy test. Questions of particular relevance relate to your allergy symptoms:

• Do they occur at any particular time of the day or year and how often?
• Which part of your body is affected?
• The severity of your symptoms?
• Family history of similar complaints?
• Self-help remedies which seem to help?
• Are there particular triggers which make your symptom worse?
• Do the symptoms appear to be linked to a particular place, i.e. home or work environment?

Answers to these questions can help toward identifying the allergens that cause the reaction.

Even if you know what is causing your allergic reaction, allergy testing may be used to establish the specific allergen. This is especially important if you have had a severe reaction and if there is any confusion as to whether your symptoms are caused by a true allergy (involving the production of IgE) or whether some other process is involved.

An allergic person's immune system produces a special type of antibody (IgE) to attack the invading allergen. IgE exists in the blood stream in extremely low amounts, usually requiring a test to be carried out in a central laboratory, taking a week or more to obtain the results.

Imutest is a novel and patented technology which allows rapid (30 minutes) detection of IgE in very small blood samples with a simple test protocol. Imutest allergy tests can either be used by a local healthcare professional (e.g. GP surgery or high street pharmacy), or by the patient themselves in the privacy of their own home.