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eczema and allergy testing (RAST)

post #1 of 2
3/30/11 at 10:08am
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My 18mo daughter has eczema. Our doc is sending us for food allergy testing - the traditional RAST test.  Is this an effective way to detect food allergies?  I don't want to subject her to the pain and unnecessarily have her blood drawn if this is not a good method.  I've read that the best way to detect food allergies is through an elimination diet.  Some suggest the IgG test, but my doc doesn't think this is reliable.

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post #2 of 2
3/30/11 at 10:30am

Honestly, NO allergy test is reliable (RAST, skin prick, IgG).  I know for the first two you are at 50/50 with a + result.  If a skin prick test is - the statistic is 90% or higher that it is NOT an allergen.

 

It's just a jumping off point really.  The only 100% way to know for sure is a food trial.  There are some foods they don't mess around with that though as the risk seem to outweigh the benefit.

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