Allergy Tests - The Bad and Bizarre

Stephen Jon Gislason MD

One distressing aspect of working with allergic disease is that confusion and controversy greets you at every turn. A series of dubious testing procedures have appeared over many years and indeed flourished in the non-medical sub-culture.  A number of bad and bizarre "tests and treatments"  have caught-on as quick and easy methods of  dealing with complex problems and have  contributed to the aversion some physicians display toward the subject of  food allergy - they sometimes associate it with  quackery. In any other context, some of these tests would be bad jokes or ludicrous charades. What makes the popularity of these fake tests a serious matter is that patients are suffering and are eager for solutions to their chronic health problems, but  they not getting help from qualified physicians. They are vulnerable to anyone who seems at all plausible and offers tests and treatments for food problems.  Here is a sample of the bad and bizarre:

Muscle testing

Muscle testing is one of the bizarre charades used to demonstrate "food and chemical sensitivity". The subject is invited to hold a glass vial containing the test substance and the examiner tests the strength of the other arm that is outstretched. Sometimes the subject is instructed to hold the vial over the body part to be tested. Weakness is interpreted as a food reaction, and the subject is advised to avoid the test substance. Variations on this theme have emerged. As a party game, muscle testing could be fun,  but anyone who believes this is a valid test of body physiology needs to be re-educated in biology. Muscle testing  is worthless scam if you are paying real money to be "tested."

Vega Meter

A simple resistance meter, dressed up in a fancy box (Vega meter), is used to measure skin resistance between a ground plate and an "acupuncture point", usually at the thumb web. A glass vial, containing test substances, is placed somewhere (it doesn't seem to matter where) in the circuit. Meter readings are interpreted as a "positive or negative reactions". The more imaginative Vega meter readers will tell you they can balance levels of certain substances in your body by doing meter readings and prescribing drops. You sign up for a series of tests and treatments and the cost can vary from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Too good to be true?! Of course. Vega meters are scams. 

There is no biology in these maneuvers and, on close examination, no sense either. But, there is big money to be made by Vega practitioners.  A pseudo-science explanatory system, referring to "oscillations in the electromagnetic field", confuses and misleads the sincere patient who just wants to get better. Vega meters are marketed by apparently reputable companies and sold to to practitioners who should know better.

Feathers, Crystals, Fantasy

We have seen machines, tests and treatments that go from impressive scams and charades to the ludicrous and ridiculous. One patient, for example, brought 4 pages of food test results from a homeopathic practitioner who used a crystal and a feather to evaluate her food sensitivities. This was a neatly hand-written list showing the many foods tested and her sensitivity to them presented as a percentage - she was 80% sensitive to milk and so-on. Many balancing potions were prescribed and she was to avoid the  foods that had high percentage scores on the "tests". She did improve on this regimen ( because she stopped eating many problem foods) but soon became confused about what she should do long-term.

We would all like either a futuristic machine that could give us all the answers or the super-human ability to simply write down the reactive repertoire of each person- but the emperor has no clothes! Vega machines, muscle tests, feathers, pendulums and crystals belong in the magicians bag of tricks, or the hypnotists stage show but are not part of a sincere medicine, using valid and reproducible techniques. If you pay real money for these tests and associated treatments, you have been cheated.

Live Blood Cell Analysis

The idea is that you put a drop of blood on a microscope slide and look at the living cells. This could be a good idea, but there are serious flaws. Microscopists have known for more than a hundred years that looking at living specimens under the microscope changes the specimen. Viewing live cells is difficult because they have to be suspended in salt water and are moving; magnification exaggerates the tiniest movement. It is hard to keep them alive. Cells are very delicate; heat from the light source tends to dry cells -  the water in which they are suspend evaporates the cells pucker up - change shape and develop abnormal looking membranes. They may stick together.

There are many artifacts, in other words, that an uncritical observer can interpret as evidence of disease. The observer has to be very familiar with the different cell types, understand their morphological characteristics and behavior. So far, we have not been convinced that any live cell analysis is valid. The analysts are poorly trained, inexperienced and, in our opinion, would have difficulty identifying which cell types they were observing. They have no way of differentiated cell-damage artifacts from real pathology. We would bet big money against the reproducibility of this technique. Any takers? This technique is a slightly revisited version of cytotoxic testing that swept the country 15 years ago and was eventually discredited.

There are possibilities for advanced systems of live blood cell analysis. We would like to know more about how blood cells behave in vivo and it is possible to simulate living conditions under the microscope, although expensive equipment and skilled operators are a prerequisite. There are proper techniques for observing how specific living blood cells behave when exposed to specific stimuli. One test, for example, observes if lymphocytes begin to multiply when they are exposed to an antigen. A clinic test based on this idea could be useful. This is a research project, not a valid diagnostic method and certainly not a technique that can be done by amateurs.

Homeopathics - The Emperor has no Clothes

You may know the story that I heard repeatedly when I was a child. A group of tailors came to town and convinced the emperor that they used only the finest silk threads in their clothing - so fine you could not see the threads. They made him a suit of clothes fit only for a king and much was said and written about the wonders of their work. Everyone was so convinced that on the appointed day, the Emperor appeared in public procession and everyone oohed and aawed at his new clothes until a little boy pointed and shouted; "The Emperor has no clothes!"

We are sorry, but as hard as we have tried, we can find no merit in homeopathic claims. Homeopathy is an elegant fantasy much like the fine silk threads that clothed the emperor. Its such a nice idea, it should be true, but it isn't.

One of my cynical acquaintances threatens to market homeopathic orange juice. It's very cheap to make - one part orange juice to at least a billion parts water; shake vigorously. With the proper packaging, it could be a best seller.

These discussions of  allergy are continued in the Book of Allergy You can order an eBook or printed text version separately or as part of the Professional Manual.		Allergy Center Food Allergy Center List of Publications eBook Information Nutritional Rescue Starter Packs Available
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