Article 70477 of sci.med:
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From: hatlelid@toxic.pharm.arizona.edu (Kristina Hatlelid)
Newsgroups: alt.med.allergy,sci.med
Subject: Re: Naturopath allergy testing weirdness
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 14:16:42
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In article <2sl1fe$ri4@lester.appstate.edu> mullerce@conrad.appstate.edu (Conrad E. Muller) writes:

>In article <2sii1n$94k@nntp.ucs.ubc.ca>, leffler@physics.ubc.ca (Steve Leffler )
>says:
>>
>>
>>   They can't.  The "naturopath" is a quack.  Go see a real doctor.
>>--
>That is an interesting opinion. As someone with scientific training, I try 
>to judge by experience (or experiment) not prejudice. I have a step daughter 
>who is healthy and active and growing when she is with us. She has gotten 
>sick enough while living with her "other" family to be taken to the hospital. 
>She comes home sick, goes back on her diet, and is OK in a few days.

>I know there are a lot of variables here, but the big one is that a Naturopath 
>told us she had some food alergies, and we see she doesn't eat things she is 
>allergic to. A "real doctor" (allergist) says she doesn't have the allergies, 
>so her biological father feeds her tons of the foods that make her sick.

>This is an experiment that runs over and over ad nausium. The results are 100%.
>I don't need to figure a confidence interval.

>As I said, there are other variables, especially psychological ones, but I think
>I'll stick with what works.

>Conrad

Of course you are right to stick with what works, but I would venture to guess 
that many people (newsgroup readers, naturopaths, and physicians included) 
confuse food "allergy" with food "intolerance".  The allergist may have been 
completely correct in his/her assertion that the child does not suffer from 
allergies in which specific antigens evoke immune system responses such as 
hives, rashes, anaphylaxis. Intolerances, on the other hand, do not 
involve the immune system but involve other systems of the body resulting in  
GI complaints, headaches, etc. However, since you didn't specify symptoms, no 
one reading these posts can consider how this relates to your case.  I 
certainly don't presume to have the answers.  My point is to make people aware 
of the difference between allergies and intolerance and to point out how an 
allergist may not be the most appropriate specialist to consult for food 
related illness.  It is dangerous to assume that every reaction is an allergic 
reaction and vice versa.  Patients with non-allergic reactions will not 
benefit from treatments meant for allergy sufferers. Nor will allergy patients 
benefit from treatments that do not address immune system dysfunction.

Anyway, I think it is a good thing that you isolated the problem in your 
step-childs case.

Cheers!

Kris


Article 70596 of sci.med:
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From: camilla@netcom.com (Camilla Cracchiolo)
Subject: Re: Naturopath allergy testing weirdness
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Date: Fri, 3 Jun 1994 20:47:50 GMT
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Conrad E. Muller (mullerce@conrad.appstate.edu) wrote:
: In article <hatlelid.39.000E47AE@toxic.pharm.arizona.edu>, hatlelid@toxic.pharm.arizona.edu (Kristina Hatlelid) says:


: I was trying to respond to a post that seemed to say you should not believe 
: anything unless a recognized authority approves.

: As to my daughter's problem, you are right, it is not stricly speaking an 
: allergy. She has severe GI symptoms from wheat. The real problem is that 
: the "nationally recognized Board Certified" Allergist insists that there 
: are no posible intolerences that do not produce histamine reactions. No 
: reaction, no problem. 

: But the child is sick. I say. "It's all in your head." says he. Then why 
: does she have to go to the hospital? No answer.

: The guy is a board certified quack who would rather let a little girl be 
: sick than admit there is something he doesn't understand. The world is full 
: of $150 a visit quacks. At least our naturopath really seems to care about 
: the kids.

It may be that you have stumbled upon a doctor who doesn't keep up
with his own field.  The latest thinking is that there are plenty
of food allergies, which are genuine allergies, but which involve
antibody response by IgA rather than IgE and which are local to the
gut.  From what I've gathered in talking to GI researchers and
to my two personal allergists (both very straight MDs), allergy
is probably responsible for a lot more food 'intolerance' than
was previously suspected.  The problem comes in because there's
no real good way to test for these thing.

If your daughter is reacting to wheat, does she also react to other
gluten containing substances such as oats and rye?  If so, she may
have celiac disease, and it's important to figure this out because
celiac disease can be quite serious and even life threatening, particularly
in a child.   A competent allergist would check for anti-gluten
antibodies with a blood test.  Did this guy do that?
The answer either way is to keep anything with gluten out of the diet.
However, a kid needs a balanced diet so you have to be careful
when taking stuff out of their diets.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of MDs in the world who think that,
once they've got their MD, they've learned all they need to know
for the rest of their lives.  I can't stand these kinds of guys;
very often, a bad experience with one will drive people right into
the arms of quacks because they believe all MDs are like this one.

I always advise people that the thing to do is read up on the
illness in question yourself and switch to a more up to date
doctor.


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 Camilla Cracchiolo, RN     camilla@netcom.com    Los Angeles, CA

     Shrine of the Cybernetic Madonna BBS      213-766-1356
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