Pathology

Breakspear Pathology is the central hub for outgoing laboratory samples and incoming results

Food Allergy Test - ALCAT

The ALCAT Test helps identify the relevant foods and substances associated with the many types of chronic inflammatory and metabolic disorders as described below.  It uses one blood sample to assay well over 100 foods and substances and is cost effective.   By indicating your bloods reactions to allergens, the ALCAT Test can help to define the right diet for your optimum health and performance. 

By definition, "allergies" to foods are acute and the symptom onset is rapid, sometimes within moments. The biological cause is very well understood and because of the rapid symptom onset, testing is usually not necessary to identify the culprit. These reactions are not very common but if you think you have a "true" food allergy it is wise to visit an allergist for comprehensive testing and advice on precautions. 

More commonly, delayed adverse reactions to foods, additives and other chemicals are not really classical allergies and the delay of symptom onset and the multitude of possible pathogenic mechanisms involved render the identification of the offending food(s) or substance(s) to be much more complicated. Whereas approximately only 2-5% of the US population has a classical allergy to a food it is estimated that as many as 80-90% of the pop. has some form of adverse reaction to one or more foods or additives manifesting in a broad range of disorders; including, migraine headache, weight gain, fatigue, hyperactivity/ADD, arthritis, breathing and skin disorders, recurring ear infections in children, depression and various others. 

Standard allergy tests, such as skin scratch testing, are not accurate for these type of reactions as they measure only a single mechanism, such as mast cell release of histamine or the presence in the blood of the IgE molecules associated with such release.