IgG Food Allergy Panel

• First-line test for gut disorders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD, Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis), colitis, proctitis.
• First-line test for evaluating Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Asperger's Syndrome, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD, ADHD), learning disability, seizure and tic disorders, depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders.
• First-line test for evaluating autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus (SLE), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia.
• First-line test for all chronic disease patients.
• Parkinson's Disease.
• Asthma and skin rashes.

Your doctor or lab may have different instructions that supersede the above.

Name of Lab	Lab Code	Estimated Cost	Processing Time	Comments
ImmunoLabs		$355 + blood draw fee	1 week	Dr. Weyrich's and Dr. Gear's preferred lab for this test.
Great Plains			2-3 weeks	Cash discount and some insurance

Costs cited are subject to change and may be reduced by insurance or cash discounts and increased by sample collection fees.

Immediate hypersensitivity reactions are typically mediated by IgE immunoglobulin produced by B-cells, which binds to mast cells, basophil cells, and eosinophil cells. These types of allergic reactions are typically observed within minutes of an exposure, such as hay fever and peanut allergies. The "skin-prick" test is often used to screen a patient for immediate hypersensitivity reactions to pollens and foods.

Delayed hypersensitivity reactions are typically mediated by IgG immunoglobulin produced by B Cells. These types of allergic reactions may manifest 2 or more hours after an exposure, and for this reason the patient often has little awareness of cause and effect. Many food allergies are IgG-mediated.

In addition to food allergies, some patients have food sensitivities that are caused by some metabolic defect that prevents proper digestion or processing of some component of the food. These are properly called "intolerances" instead of "allergies" as they are not mediated by IgE or IgG. An example is "lactose intolerance" in which the patient has a deficit of the enzyme "lactase" and is unable to digest and absorb the "milk sugar" lactose. Since the lactose in milk cannot be digested and absorbed, it remains in the gut and feeds an overgrowth of microflora, which in turn causes symptoms.

The reliability of IgG food allergy testing has been called into question due to different results being reported by different labs, and due to imperfect correlation between lab reports and patient response to foods. Despite these limitations, IgG food allergy testing is an important tool in designing food elimination diets that can be further refined by the clinical response of each patient.

In some cases, a patient will give a test response to most of the foods in the patient's diet. This is an indication of "leaky gut syndrome" in which case a loss of integrity of the intestinal mucosa is allowing undigested foods to enter the patient's blood stream, causing a general arousal of the immune system. Many autoimmune and chronic illnesses are due in part to this mechanism. In this case, avoiding the allergenic foods may give symptomatic relief, while healing the gut is necessary to resolve the cause.