An allergy occurs when a person’s immune system is causing reactions to things in the environment that are harmless for most other people. Allergens are substances to which you are allergic. Allergens are found in house dust mites, pets, pollen, insects, moulds, foods and some medicines. These differ from patient to patient. There is no “one size fits all” list of triggers for people with allergy!
What is a skin prick test?
Skin prick tests (SPT) are an accurate way of checking which substances may cause an allergic reaction. SPTs use your own body to show us whether it has IgE antibodies to the allergens in the skin prick drops.
Read more about skin prick testing here:
https://www.allergyfoundation.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/3-skin-test.pdf
What is immunotherapy?
Allergen immunotherapy is when the doctor actually gives you the thing that you are allergic to every day to try to trick your body into becoming resistant to the allergy!
Read more about immunotherapy here:
https://www.allergyfoundation.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/4-immunitherapy.pdf
What is spirometry? (Lung function test)
Asthma is a very common condition, It cannot be cured, but can be controlled with effective medication, good technique, and good monitoring by the patient and the doctor.
Lung function tests are any test that measures the functioning of the lungs. Some of these tests need sophisticated machines and highly trained staff, but can be done by the patient at home.
Read more about spirometry here:
http://www.asthmasa.org/media/leaflets/Lungfunctiontests.pdf
Interpretation of blood results.
The ImmunoCAP test directly looks for the IgE antibodies to specific allergens in the blood. It therefore also shows sensitisation … the potential to have allergy, not the presence of allergy itself.
Read more about the interpretation of blood results here:
https://www.allergyfoundation.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/3-allergy-testing.pdf