Dr. Scott Sicherer: “Parents: Allergy Tests and Food Diets Explained”
Unlike an allergic reaction, food sensitivity doesn't involve an immune system response. Scientists are still trying to understand the cause of the latter, making it hard to test. The immune system makes a type of antibody, called immunoglobulin G (IgG), which some laboratories claim indicates food sensitivity. Some of the tests are marketed directly to consumers and can costs in the hundreds of dollars. But allergists caution the tests give people too many "false positive" results, which incorrectly point to a food sensitivity, to be reliable. A study involving 21,305 adults published in January 2013 in PLoS One found no evidence that an IgG antibody test indicates a food sensitivity. The "IgG [test] is unproven," says Scott Sicherer, MD. Learn more
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Welcomes New Chief of Clinical Immunology
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