Common Childhood Diseases Can Lead to Asthma If Left Untreated; Early, Accurate, Reliable Test Helps Physicians Interrupt the Progression of Diseases.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- A progression of diseases that often begins in babies can be an early indicator of asthma. This progression is termed by the medical community as "The Allergy March," which is a series of common allergic diseases including eczema; gastrointestinal distress; recurring ear infections; sinusitis; allergic rhinitis; and finally asthma.

"Until the development of allergy blood tests like ImmunoCAP, skin testing was the standard diagnostic tool for allergies," said Leonard Fromer, MD a family physician with a clinical practice specialty in allergy and asthma and assistant clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine. "Skin tests are generally performed by specialists. However, we know that diagnostic accuracy for primary care physicians, who manage 80 percent of patients with allergy-like symptoms, greatly improves by adding evidence from allergy blood tests, which can be used interchangeably with skin tests."

Testing for Allergies

ImmunoCAP(R) Specific IgE blood testing allows health professionals to accurately measure sensitivity to a given allergen in patients as young as three months of age. The test works by taking a small blood sample that is analyzed to detect the presence of an antibody when the body is responding to an allergen. Safe and effective for adults and children, the test can show whether a patient has an allergy and help pinpoint specific allergen triggers. ImmunoCAP was the first allergy test to be accepted by the FDA as a truly quantitative test for identifying allergens and is accepted by the National Institutes of Health as comparable to skin testing.

"These early childhood diseases can impact the quality of a child's life and be very disruptive to families, so the earlier we can diagnose and interrupt their progression with proper treatment, the better the outcome for the entire family," said Michael Land, president and general manager of Pharmacia Diagnostics, U.S. Operations. "ImmunoCAP is emerging as an important diagnostic tool especially in children, because it requires only a single blood sample and the results are not affected by medication."

Ruling Out Allergies

One study, conducted at Ohio State University, used ImmunoCAP and found that 65 percent of people who take antihistamines do not actually suffer from allergies. Researchers examined 246 patients who had previously been diagnosed with allergies and were taking antihistamines. Patients were then tested for common allergens such as animal dander, pollen and mold, and only 35 percent of those using antihistamines were diagnosed with allergies.

"The majority of patients are inaccurately diagnosed, because allergy symptoms often mimic symptoms caused by other conditions, so proper treatment always depends on accurate diagnosis," said Dr. Fromer. "ImmunoCAP plays an important role to help guide treatment strategies and ultimately improve care."

Pharmacia Diagnostics AB, headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden, is the world leader in in vitro IgE diagnostic research and product development. Its U.S. affiliate is in Kalamazoo, Michigan.