Does Your Doctor Have The Right Information About Food Allergies?

When we first took our son to the doctor about what we believed was a milk allergy, the doctor said, “Yup, sounds like a milk allergy, maybe you should try Gentle Ease Formula.”  When I looked at the sample they gave me, I saw it was a milk-based formula for gassy babies. I knew right then I wasn’t going to get any help from that pediatrician. 

We did our best managing his allergy until we had another allergic reaction, this time to eggs.  We knew we had to find another doctor.  The next pediatrician knew a little more than the first, and at least he knew enough to recommend that we see an allergist.

Many doctors are not sufficiently informed about food allergies.  There are many other illnesses that can present the same symptoms a food allergy does.  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recently funded and coordinated standardized guidelines for the diagnoses and management of food allergies based on the concern that practitioners were not all using the same information or methodology.

“Food allergy practice parameters in the past were written by allergists for allergists. There was a concern that other healthcare providers who were seeing patients with food allergies, such as family doctors, emergency room physicians, pulmonologists, dermatologists, and gastroenterologists, were using different definitions for food allergy and, as a result, managing the condition in different ways or even missing the diagnosis.”(MedscapeMedical News: New Food Allergy Guidelines to Debut December 6, Fran Lowry)

These guidelines were introduced in December 2010 and were made available to all healthcare providers.  It is still fairly new, and it is highly likely that your doctor has not yet read or is not aware of these food allergy guidelines.

If you feel you need to see an allergist, don’t hesitate to request a recommendation.  Your healthcare provider may not have all of the information he or she needs to adequately diagnose or manage the problem. 

If you would like to share these food allergy guidelines with your practitioner, follow the link below:

Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of food Allergyin the United States:Report of the NIAID-Sponsored Expert Panel