Peanut Allergy

Hi Tracy! This is Krystle, producer for MyAllergyNetwork.com. Thanks for writing!

I'm forwarding your question to our doctor and will let you know the response.

All the best,

Krystle Kopacz 

Hi Tracy,

Any positive result is an abnormal result and indicates the probability of an allergy to the offending substance. However, the accuracy of allergy tests can vary over time. I think your best bet is to discuss these results in greater depth with your son's allergist. That should give you the best and most accurate information.

Hi Tracy. I'm sorry to hear about your son's allergy diagnosis. Unfortunately, I can't provide much information without knowing a what kind of test he had. There are a variety of different allergy tests, and the only one that's even close to 100% accurate for food allergies is a double-blind, placebo-controlled challenge test. Because this can be risky for people who have shown some allergic reaction to peanuts, allergists will often begin with a skin test or RAST blood test, but these often provide false positives. In other words, they indicate that the person is allergic to peanuts, but he really isn't.

There are a lot of other allergy tests out there, but they are, as far as I know, scientifically unproven, and people who get these tests done often end up placing unnecessary dietary restrictions upon themselves.

For more information on both sides of the allergy testing story, I invite you to check out this recent discussion on allergy tests we had in the WEGO Health community (I'm the community moderator there)

http://forums.wegohealth.com/forums/viewthread/87_25/

That said, peanut allergies can be very serious, so it's important that you speak to your doctor to get clarification on the test results -- if your son is indeed severely allergic to peanuts, he must avoid them.

Please do let me know what kind of test it was, though, and I may be able to provide more information. Thanks. And best of luck to you and your son!