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How is allergy diagnosed or evaluated?
A carefully obtained patient history, including environmental exposures, and the appropriate laboratory tests or allergen challenges is critical for the accurate diagnosis of allergy.
Obtaining a complete history from the allergic patient involves getting a description of all symptoms along with their timing and length, plus obtaining a list of exposures to common allergens, and responses to previous therapies.
Allergic diseases are often associated with increased numbers of blood particles known as eosinophils. The presence of more than 450 eosinophils/µL of blood is the most common abnormality noted on examination of the blood of allergic patients.
Allergen skin testing (allergen challenge) is the primary in-office procedure for the diagnosis of allergic disease. Minute amounts of an allergen are introduced into the patient's skin. In an allergic patient, the allergen will result in an itchy wheal (raised skin) surrounded by an area of redness. Several allergens can be tested for at one time. The appearance of a red, raised area in response to a given allergen will help to identify the allergens to which the patient is allergic.
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