Food Allergy Test Price in Pakistan: Rs 4,900 at Marham Lab

A food allergy blood test measures allergy causing antibodies called immunoglobulin E, or IgE. MedlinePlus explains that antibodies are proteins your immune system makes to fight foreign substances, and that it may also make them in response to allergens, which are harmless substances that cause an allergic reaction in some people. It is normal to have small amounts of IgE in your blood. During an allergic reaction the immune system treats the allergen as a threat and makes more. At Marham Lab the universal food allergens profile costs Rs 4,900, reduced from Rs 7,000.

This is the most important thing on the page, and it is where a great deal of money and needless dieting is wasted in Pakistan.

MedlinePlus states that a high specific IgE result means you may be allergic to the allergen that was tested, and that the amount of IgE measured does not predict how serious your allergy may be. A high number is not a severe allergy and a low number is not a mild one.

MedlinePlus is also direct that allergy blood tests may not always be accurate. It describes false positives, where results say you have an allergy when you do not, and notes this may happen if your body is having a slight reaction to substances in certain foods you ate before the test. It adds that higher amounts of IgE may also be caused by smoking or a parasitic infection, which matters here, since intestinal parasites are common in Pakistan and can raise IgE without any food allergy at all.

False negatives are the rarer problem. MedlinePlus says it is uncommon for a blood test to show you do not have an allergy when you actually do.

So the report is a starting point for an allergist, not an instruction to eliminate foods. MedlinePlus says that if results suggest an allergy, your provider may refer you to an allergy specialist or recommend a treatment plan.

MedlinePlus sets out two general types of allergy blood test, and Marham Lab lists both.

MedlinePlus explains the difference plainly. A total IgE test that is high means you may have some kind of allergy, though the result does not show what you are allergic to or how serious it may be. A specific IgE test measures the response to individual allergens, with a separate test for each one.

If your symptoms come after eating, the food panel is the relevant one. If they come with the seasons, dust or animals, the inhalant panel is. Book what your doctor wrote, and if both were ordered, book both.

Skin testing puts allergens directly on or into the skin. MedlinePlus lists the situations where a blood test is ordered instead.

• You have certain skin conditions
• You take certain medicines that may affect the results of a skin test
• You are likely to have a serious allergic reaction to the allergens used in skin testing
• You are a young child, since MedlinePlus notes skin testing may be too uncomfortable for them

MedlinePlus adds that depending on your history and symptoms, a provider may order a skin test alongside a blood test, or a skin test alone. Blood testing is the safer option where a serious reaction is a real possibility.

MedlinePlus lists the symptoms that prompt allergy testing.

• Stuffy or runny nose
• Sneezing
• Itchy, watery eyes
• Hives, which are itchy raised red patches on the skin
• Diarrhoea
• Vomiting
• Shortness of breath
• Coughing
• Wheezing

MedlinePlus notes symptoms range from mild to severe depending on the type of allergy, from itching and sneezing through asthma to a life threatening condition called anaphylactic shock.