News Archive

9/15/2003
Fall Dilemma: Is It Allergy or a Cold?

More than 50 million Americans suffer from allergy-like symptoms. The challenge to physicians in the fall and spring is to determine whether symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing, congestion, coughing and breathing problems are caused by an infection or fall allergies triggered by ragweed, raking leaves, mold or indoor allergens. One diagnostic advance, a simple new allergy blood test, ImmunoCAP®, will help to determine if the cause of patient symptoms is due to allergic disease.

If allergy is proven to cause your symptoms and a test shows a sensitivity to specific allergens, you can be treated with appropriate medications. This knowledge is particularly important in diagnosing and treating children, but the ImmunoCAP Allergy Blood Test is safe and effective for all ages.

If it’s determined that you’re sensitive to ragweed – the most allergenic plant in the U.S. – which often grows at construction sites, or from the mold in decomposing and wet leaves, you can take steps to avoid the offending culprits, or get appropriate treatment. If allergy is not the cause of symptoms, treatment will differ significantly.

"The ImmunoCAP Allergy Blood Test is simple, highly-accurate, and a much-needed diagnostic advance," said Leonard Fromer, M.D., associate clinical professor of family medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles and a member of the Prairie Medical Group in Santa Monica. "Finally, we have a way to diagnose allergies effectively which is widely accessible to people in their family doctors’ offices."

A Boon To Consumers The allergy test, called the ImmunoCAP Allergy Blood Test, is made by Pharmacia Diagnostics. With a small blood sample, analyzed in a laboratory, doctors can determine the cause of suspected allergic symptoms by measuring the amount of an antibody – immunoglobulin E (IgE) – circulating in the blood when the body is reacting to an allergen. The amount of IgE produced helps the doctor determine if a patient is allergic.

In a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the ImmunoCAP technology demonstrated superior reliability and accuracy, compared to four other tests, including older technology blood testing like RAST™, once considered the standard for allergy blood testing.

What Is Allergy? Allergy is called a threshold disease. Many of us are allergic to one thing or another, but you might not have symptoms of your allergy until you are exposed to other allergic triggers. Think of that one allergy as a half cup of water. As new elements get added, the cup gets more full. You may not have symptoms of your allergy until you come in contact with that one last thing which makes your cup overflow. In other words, your threshold has been reached. Now the detective work begins to find the culprits or allergens. Sometimes treatment is as simple as taking some of those allergen triggers out of that cup or avoiding those substances altogether.

Fall allergy season varies somewhat depending on the region of the country, but generally runs from late August through October. In the fall, the most common plant allergen is ragweed, which proliferates widely throughout the country. As people spend more time indoors during the colder months, they are subjected to allergens such as dust mites, indoor molds, and animal dander. If you are not sure about whether you have allergies, a cold or another upper respiratory disease, a simple blood test at your family physician’s office can tell you if the symptoms are related to allergies. You can also visit www.DoIHaveAllergies.com for additional information.

Pharmacia Diagnostics, a division of Pharmacia Corporation, is headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden, and is a world leader in in vitro diagnostic research and product innovation. The U.S. headquarters for Pharmacia Diagnostics is in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Pfizer Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets leading prescription medicines for humans and animals and many of the world's best-known consumer brands. Our innovative, value-added products improve the quality of life of people around the world and help them enjoy longer, healthier, and more productive lives. The company has four business segments: health care, animal health, consumer health care, and other businesses such as diagnostics. Pfizer products are available in more than 150 countries.

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