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Fall Dilemma: Is It Allergy or a Cold?
9/15/2003
More than 50 million Americans suffer from allergy-like
symptoms. The challenge to physicians in the fall and spring
is to determine whether symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing,
congestion, coughing and breathing problems are caused by
an infection or fall allergies triggered by ragweed, raking
leaves, mold or indoor allergens. One diagnostic advance,
a simple new allergy blood test, ImmunoCAP®, will help
to determine if the cause of patient symptoms is due to allergic
disease.
If allergy is proven to cause your symptoms and a test
shows a sensitivity to specific allergens, you can be treated
with appropriate medications. This knowledge is particularly
important in diagnosing and treating children, but the ImmunoCAP
Allergy Blood Test is safe and effective for all ages.
If it's determined that you're sensitive
to ragweed — the most allergenic plant in the U.S. — which
often grows at construction sites, or from the mold in decomposing
and wet leaves, you can take steps to avoid the offending
culprits, or get appropriate treatment. If allergy is not
the cause of symptoms, treatment will differ significantly.
"The ImmunoCAP Allergy Blood Test is simple, highly-accurate,
and a much-needed diagnostic advance," said Leonard
Fromer, M.D., associate clinical professor of family medicine
at the University of California at Los Angeles and a member
of the Prairie Medical Group in Santa Monica. "Finally,
we have a way to diagnose allergies effectively which is
widely accessible to people in their family doctors' offices."
A Boon To Consumers The allergy test, called the ImmunoCAP
Allergy Blood Test, is made by Pharmacia Diagnostics. With
a small blood sample, analyzed in a laboratory, doctors can
determine the cause of suspected allergic symptoms by measuring
the amount of an antibody — immunoglobulin E (IgE) — circulating
in the blood when the body is reacting to an allergen. The
amount of IgE produced helps the doctor determine if a patient
is allergic.
In a study published in the June issue of the Journal
of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the ImmunoCAP technology
demonstrated superior reliability and accuracy, compared
to four other tests, including older technology blood testing
like RAST™, once considered the standard for allergy
blood testing.
What Is Allergy? Allergy is called a threshold
disease. Many of us are allergic to one thing or another,
but you might not have symptoms of your allergy until you
are exposed to other allergic triggers. Think of that one
allergy as a half cup of water. As new elements get added,
the cup gets more full. You may not have symptoms of your
allergy until you come in contact with that one last thing
which makes your cup overflow. In other words, your threshold
has been reached. Now the detective work begins to find the
culprits or allergens. Sometimes treatment is as simple as
taking some of those allergen triggers out of that cup or
avoiding those substances altogether.
Fall allergy season varies somewhat depending on the region
of the country, but generally runs from late August through
October. In the fall, the most common plant allergen is ragweed,
which proliferates widely throughout the country. As people
spend more time indoors during the colder months, they are
subjected to allergens such as dust mites, indoor molds,
and animal dander. If you are not sure about whether you
have allergies, a cold or another upper respiratory disease,
a simple blood test at your family physician's office
can tell you if the symptoms are related to allergies. You
can also visit www.isitallergy.com for additional information.
Pharmacia Diagnostics, a division of Pharmacia Corporation,
is headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden, and is a world leader
in in vitro diagnostic research and product innovation.
The U.S. headquarters for Pharmacia Diagnostics is in Kalamazoo,
Michigan.
Pfizer Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets
leading prescription medicines for humans and animals and
many of the world's best-known consumer brands. Our innovative,
value-added products improve the quality of life of people
around the world and help them enjoy longer, healthier, and
more productive lives. The company has four business segments:
health care, animal health, consumer health care, and other
businesses such as diagnostics. Pfizer products are available
in more than 150 countries.
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