43 Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy Released

New recommendations from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases include 43 guidelines for diagnosing and managing food allergies. The 'Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy in the United States,' developed by a panel of experts, includes a number of recommendations and suggestions for doctors treating patients who may have food allergies.

The recommendations set forth are far-reaching. For example, the panel laid out guidelines for diagnosing food allergies, recommending a combination approach utilizing medical history, physical exams, and a skin-prick test. The panel also noted that a food elimination diet, in which patients are asked to eliminate specific foods from their diet, may also be useful for diagnosing food allergies.

In recognition that an estimated 50% to 90% of assumed food allergies are actually not food allergies at all, the panel defined food allergies as 'an adverse health effect arising from a specific immune response that occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food.' The new recommendations include guidelines for determining whether a patient's symptoms are caused by a 'true' food allergy or not.

The new guidelines also touch on the ties between food allergies and asthma. Recent research has revealed that food allergies may be linked with asthma, atopic dermatitis (or eczema), and other conditions. The expert panel suggests that food allergies could be a risk factor for asthma attacks in those who are diagnosed with both a food allergy and asthma.

Read more of the panel's food allergy recommendations here: http://www.clinicaladvisor.com/food-allergy-guidelines-released/article/...