Having “allergies” specifically undiagnosed allergies can be debilitating, frustrating, frightening, and in some cases, life-threatening. With 100 million allergy-related Google searches a year, people are becoming more proactive about their medical health and seeking answers. Sometimes the answers are difficult to find among the noise, with conflicting ideas on how best to treat and more specifically how to live an allergy-controlled life. There can be a tendency with allergy symptoms to reach for over-the-counter medication while not truly knowing what your drivers are.
Written by Joyce Clegg – Managing Director, The Allergy Clinic
What is an Allergy?
Allergies occur when your immune system reacts to a foreign substance — such as pollen, bee venom, pet dander, food or metal and believes it is harmful.
Your immune system produces substances known as antibodies. When you have allergies, your immune system makes antibodies that identify a particular allergen as harmful, even though it isn’t. The severity of symptoms varies from person to person and can range from minor irritation to anaphylaxis — a potentially life-threatening emergency.
Symptoms of allergies
• sneezing
• a runny or blocked nose
• headaches
• red, itchy, watery eyes
• wheezing and coughing
• a red, itchy rash
• worsening of asthma or eczema symptoms
• Body rash
• Stomach issues
• Low mood
Importance of having an allergy test
Many people are increasingly misdiagnosing themselves with allergies, leading to an ideology that allergy symptoms are something that you just must live with.
In some studies, 40% of people claimed to have a food allergy, only 5% did, along with one third of parents believing their children suffered from food allergies with only a fraction of which would pass clinical diagnosis. The knock-on effect is that people are now eliminating important foods from their own and their children’s diet without a clinical diagnosis. Typical example of this is if an egg allergy is suspected a lot of people also remove milk, wheat, and query other foods. Having an allergy test is the only way to definitively know what our allergy drivers are. It is only then we can commence a treatment plan tailored to the individual and ensure we are not missing out nutritionally.
How do we test?
Type 1 hypersensitivity test – Skin prick testing or IGE blood testing.
The most frequent positive responses identified in The Allergy Clinic are grass pollen, tree pollen, dust mite, milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and wheat. Bee and wasp venom are the most common insect.
Type IV delayed response – Patch testing over 5 days.
Allergy Patch testing is used for contact dermatitis type symptoms to determine if the body rash is allergic or non-allergic in nature. While we test for everyday substances that come into contact with the body i.e. washing powder, clothes, beauty products, metals, dyes, it is generally hair and nail products or work-related exposure to metals, textiles, dyes that are most common. There has also been a notable increase in anal and vulva irritation due to an allergic response to grooming products.
Metal Allergy testing for orthopaedic implants
Working alongside Mr Paul Nicholson, orthopaedic surgeon, The Allergy Clinic have developed metal allergy testing for orthopaedic prosthesis. We have increased our capabilities to test for titanium, cobalt and nickel among other metal components found in implants. Unfortunately, we see a lot of patient’s post-surgery showing signs of metal allergy resulting in second surgeries to replace the titanium
What more is there to know about Allergies?
Having “allergies” specifically undiagnosed allergies can be debilitating, frustrating, frightening, and in some cases, life-threatening. With 100 million allergy-related Google searches a year, people are becoming more proactive about their medical health and seeking answers. Sometimes the answers are difficult to find among the noise, with conflicting ideas on how best to treat and more specifically how to live an allergy-controlled life. There can be a tendency with allergy symptoms to reach for over-the-counter medication while not truly knowing what your drivers are. implant with a cobalt one and vice versa. Symptoms of metal allergy can be a rash or burning sensation around the joint, typically hip or knee, burning sensation with no infection present, depression or failure to recover as expected.
Are allergies for life?
Children diagnosed with milk or egg allergy can outgrow their allergies, however, peanut allergies tend to be for life. We can also develop allergies at any stage in life.
Anaphylaxis
Food/nut allergy, bee or wasp venom allergy, drug allergy and cold urticaria are some of the more serious allergens that can lead to anaphylactic shock.
This can be a life-threatening reaction and requires immediate treatment by adrenaline injection, followed by expert medical attention.
Eczema and allergies
At The Allergy Clinic we see a lot of patients presenting with eczema. Eczema can be triggered or exacerbated by food or environmental exposure, e.g. dust mites, moulds, pollens, pets and foods etc. When specific positive allergens are correctly identified a dedicated treatment plan can be implemented to help alleviate some of the symptoms.
Asthma and allergies
It’s estimated that 470,000 people in Ireland have asthma and 60% to 80% of these also have hay fever. We know asthma can really affect a person’s quality of life so correctly identifying where and if allergy plays a role can be very helpful. Some of the most common triggers for asthma sufferers are environmental allergens, house dust mites, pets, pollens, and moulds.
House dust mites
Some studies show a quarter of the Irish population are affected by some form of allergy with house dust mites being a top offender. There is a common misconception when we talk about a dust mite allergy people confuse it with dust and believe there is not much we can do about it. Dust mites belong to the spider family, are microscopic in size and not visible, house dust mites tend to affect us the most when we are sleeping.
They live in our mattress and pillows. When our airways are relaxed at night, they travel through our nose down into our lungs. When they reach the lungs the dust mite will then defecate. It is the protein in its faeces that cause the allergic reaction. Symptoms of dust mite allergy are feeling groggy on waking, sneezing, blocked nose etc. Treatment includes putting a regular cleaning regime into your bedroom, using zipped matters protectors on your pillows and your mattress, removing all objects that dust can land on i.e., clothes from around your room, books, curtains, toys etc. Recently introduced to Ireland by ALK, doctors now have the option of sublingual immunotherapy for dust mite allergic patients to help with symptoms.
With no financial benefit, The Allergy Clinic has created a range with Dunnes Stores to make zipped mattress and zipped pillowcases available and affordable in Ireland for dust mite allergic people.
While on every medical form and in most restaurants, we are asked “Do you have any allergies” we never really think of the implications and impact allergies can have on our bodies in a broader scale. Testing is simple, generally non-invasive, and extremely beneficial to understanding what our bodies do and do not perceive as harmful to us.
The Allergy Clinic is the only dedicated allergy testing service in Ireland with clinics in Dublin, Athlone, Cork, Waterford and Galway. Adults can self-refer; children require a letter of referral from their GP outlining the reason for the test. Adults leave our clinics with their results, a management plan and a referral to a consultant if needed. All results are sent to the patients GP for their medical file.
Our goal is to offer our patients quality medical care, carried out by medical professionals in a safe environment.
