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Dilutions for Self-Service Allergy Testing

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Dr David L. J. Freed, MB, MD, MIBiol

You cannot prepare dilutions suitable for intradermal (injection) testing in the kitchen but you can test yourself for foods, in a rough-and-ready way that will probably suffice for most patients most of the time.

This is applicable only to foods, not inhalants (pollens etc), with the possible exception of dust. You will not be able to handle more than one or two foods at a time, but gradually you can build up the cover.

Take an olive-size portion of the food (cooked, if it is normally eaten cooked). Cut up finely with sharp knife and scissors (make sure all cutlery is clean). Grind with mortar and pestle or food processor, with enough water to make a sloppy suspension.

Prepare a row of clean water glasses, each containing about 50 ml of clean water.

Add approx 10 ml of your food extract to the first glass and stir and shake well. This is dilution number 1.

Add approx 10 ml of dilution 1 to the second glass, stir and shake. This is dilution number 2.

Add approx 10 ml of dilution 2 to third glass, and continue the process till you have about 8 dilutions.

Wait till patient is calm and stable, preferably feeling reasonably well.

Have him take a sip of dilution 1, swish it round the mouth for about 10 seconds, then swallow. Wait 10 minutes to see if symptoms happen. Take pulse every few minutes to see if it rises by more than 10 beats/min; if so this counts as a probable reaction (provided he has been sitting still and calmly all the time and there is no other reason why the pulse should rise).

If symptoms, proceed after about 15 min to second dilution and repeat process. Symptoms will now either get better or worse. If better, this is the neutralising dilution and should be taken as treatment (put it in a bottle and save it frozen). If worse, proceed to next dilution and try that. Sooner or later you will find a dilution that makes symptoms better.

If dilution 1 causes no symptoms, use that as the neutraliser.

Neutralizing dilutions can be kept frozen indefinitely, though the patient's sensitivity can change with time and testing will have to be repeated. Do not mix different food neutralisers together as this upsets the dilution factor.

For dust, make your starting extract with the contents of the vacuum-cleaner bag. Mix with water for ten min, shaking occasionally. The resultant disgusting slop can then be diluted and tested the same way. Start with sixth dilution as allergic reactions to dust have been known to be fatal.

Hatzlacha raba.

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