Food Allergies In Adults

Dr. Paula J. Busse Health Professional Medical professional Dr. Paula J. Busse is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the... Send Message Subscribe: Dr. Paula J. Busse

Monday, March 05, 2007
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I would like to discuss food allergy in adults, and symptoms that one may experience with food allergies. Fortunately, food allergy is pretty rare in adults, only about 1-2% of the adult population has true food allergies. (However, many other adults have what we call, food intolerance, w...

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is D. Dimer possibly related to food allergies?
ca
Sunday, August 05, 2007 at 09:53 PM

I have been experiencing Dyspnea for the past 3 days and finaly went to Urgent Care last night. They found quite elevated D. Dimer (651 where the range is normally <250) so they did a CT scan, an EKG and blood work - all negative and no evidence of clots. I am 50 and in excellent health except for this shortness of breath as of 3 days ago. My resting pulse averages 42 and my B/P has always been around 90/70. The doctors were confounded and prescribed Ativan for stress, but the shortness of breath persists and Ativan isn't treating that elevated D. Dimer count either. I wonder if an allergist is the right person to be talking to....?

re: is D. Dimer possibly related to food allergies?
Paula Busse
Monday, August 13, 2007 at 10:35 PM

Dear ca,
The D. Dimer test is used to see if you may have formed a clot. However, the test is not 100% accurate and may be either falsely elevated (especially if you had a recent trauma or accident or infection, and if your trigycerides are high) or falsely decreased. Physicians use it along with CTs and U/S to see if there is a clot. The physicians were probably looking to see if you may have had a pulmonary emboli. The D. Dimer test, focuses on fibrin which makes up clots. It is not linked to allergy testing, and its result will not help you determine if you have allergies. However, on the other hand, shortness of breath may be caused by multiple factors, one of which may be asthma, which can be triggered by allergies. It would probably be best to follow-up with your primary care phyisican for further evaluation of the shortness of breath.