Don't Get Fooled by Quack Allergy Test

If parents have been thoroughly scared by the constant drumbeat of talk about allergies during Food Allergy Awareness Week, ending today, they might be willing to go to any lengths to help diagnose their childrens' possible allergies.

Some of you parents may want to try the Imupro allergy blood test. Louise Hall of the Sydney Morning Herald listed what the makers claim are the wonders of the test:

People with unexplained bloating, bowel upsets, hives, lethargy and skin problems can take a new blood test that detects intolerance to 272 foods. ...

The importers of the German-designed Imupro test said it was so accurate it could test for sensitivity to individual types of fish, rather than seafood as a whole, and could also differentiate between different types of milk and vegetables.

Managing director Kevin Grundy said tests available in Australia examined whole food groups, such as dairy or wheat, and a positive result meant sufferers had to cut out the whole group.

"But if you like cheese you may only be intolerant to one type and the rest are still on the menu."

Sounds great, right?

Fortunately, Hall also tells us that:

allergy specialists said the $1000 test was "no more useful than reading tea leaves".

True allergy symptoms are caused by the immune system creating what are called IgE antibodies. These symptoms vary from a mild rash to anaphylactic shock.

There are other groups of antibodies, however, and they can also create symptoms. These reactions are sometimes called food intolerances or hypersensitivities. See my Lactose Intolerance vs. Milk Allergy page on my website.

The Imupro test doesn't look for IgE sensitivity, which is the goal of most authentic allergy tests. It just looks for Type III IgG antibodies.

Does this do any good? Of course the Imupro websites have "case studies" and testimonies about how wonderful their test is. Here's the Australian site that's mentioned in Hall's article. There's a less thorough U.S. site. There is even an English-language version of the original German company's website.

None of the sites give any medical or scientific references to the use of their product or the use of IgG antibody detection in determining reactions to specific foods, just generalities about allergies. I can't figure out any way this can possibly work and they certainly are providing no assistance.

The scientists Hall quotes say the same thing.

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital immunopathologist Roger Garsia said there was no credible evidence that measuring IgG antibodies was useful for diagnosing food allergy or intolerance because these antibodies were common in healthy adults and children.

He said the tests could lead to inappropriate and unnecessary dietary restrictions.

"They shouldn't be purporting to be a reliable diagnostic test and there is a real risk of deciding to unnecessarily restrict food intake on the basis of these tests," he said.

Raymond Mullins, of the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, said measuring IgG levels was one of many unorthodox ways of diagnosing and treating food intolerance.

He said while studies had shown alternative tests were "no more useful than reading tea leaves", 50-70 per cent of patients with allergic disease consulted unorthodox practitioners.

In other words, desperate parents frequently turn to quacks for help. Please be smarter than that. While diagnosing allergies and hypersensitivities is often a long and difficult task, none of the alternative therapies are worth anything at all, less alone hundreds or thousands of dollars for useless tests.