In a nut allergy, patients are often not allergic to all nuts

Relief for nut allergic: Other types of nuts often unproblematic
When people have an allergy to peanuts, hazelnuts or walnuts, it is often advised to avoid nuts altogether. This is not necessary in many cases, according to the results of a US study.

If the patient has not responded clearly to a food, oral provocation testing is the safest way to detect allergy. In the process, the smallest amounts of the allergenic food are added under clinical conditions and increased in certain time intervals. This test should only be performed under the supervision of a medical professional who will then monitor the patient for a few hours. Depending on the response of the body, he can intervene and decide when the test will end. Often, however, only a prick test is performed, are applied to the standardized allergen solutions on the skin.

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However, this method is not reliable enough for a diagnosis. Another way to test an allergy is the IgE test. Blood is taken to measure the amount of immunoglobulin E (IgE). These antibodies, when appropriately predisposed, are formed in response to contact with allergens.

The scientists evaluated the oral provocation test of 109 patients who had tested positive for tree nut allergies (almonds, pecans, etc.) to skin tests or IgE for other nut species. But they had not responded to the food so far. In more than one case, the suspicion of an additional nut allergy was not confirmed. 44 patients with peanut allergy and positive skin and IgE test for other nut species also passed the oral provocation test 96 percent. Therefore, these patients did not suffer from a second allergy, and the renunciation of other nut species was unnecessary, write the scientists in the journal "Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology". Heike Kreutz, bzfe