Allergy Test Glasgow

Food allergy and food intolerance are commonly confused, as symptoms of food intolerance occasionally resemble those of food allergy. However, food intolerance does not involve the immune system and does not cause severe allergic reactions (known as anaphylaxis). Food intolerance also does not show on allergy testing.

A food intolerance is caused by an underlying issue in the digestive system. Unlike food allergies, which can cause life-threatening symptoms, food intolerance involves mostly unpleasant digestive disorders. For example, if you have an intolerance to milk it is most likely that your body cannot tolerate lactose in milk. This is due to an enzyme deficiency in the gut, which prevents the breakdown of the lactose. This can result in upset tummy.

Allergies cause a relatively limited range of symptoms.

• Wheeze or cough
• Runny, blocked, or itchy nose
• Itchy, gritty, and watering eyes
• Itchy, raised skin rash (wheals, hives or urticaria)
• Swelling of skin, mouth, tongue, or throat

If you have experienced swelling of the mouth, tongue, or throat after eating certain foods, even if the symptoms were mild, you should contact a doctor a soon as possible and avoid the food or liquids which you believe may have caused these symptoms.

Some food allergies can also cause abdominal pain or cramps, vomiting or diarrhoea, but they usually cause one of the other symptoms above at the same time.

There is currently no cure for allergies, however the best form of prevention is awareness.  Our tests are highly accurate and can inform you of the particular allergens you are susceptible to.  Once you are aware of the offending allergen avoidance is made easier and hopefully the allergy will stop dictating what you can do and when.

An allergy blood test measures a substance called immunoglobulin E (IgE) in your blood. IgE is an antibody that your body makes and if you have allergies, you may have more IgE in your blood than normal.

Your immune system makes antibodies to fight off viruses, bacteria, and other things that can make you sick. With allergies, your immune system treats one or more harmless substances, such as pollen or peanuts, as a threat. To fight the “threat,” your immune system makes IgE antibodies. This is what causes your allergy symptoms.

Allergy blood tests can accurately detect if you have an allergy and are two general types of allergy blood tests:

• A Total IgE Test is used to measure the total amount of IgE antibodies in your blood.
• A Specific IgE Test measures how much IgE your body makes in response to a single allergen. A separate test is done for each allergen that may be causing your allergies. This avoids exposing you to an allergen and then seeing if you react to this or not, therefore it is much more comfortable for the patient with more accurate results.