Allergy and Immunology
- Samuel C. Bukantz, MD;
- Richard F. Lockey, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
A number of symptom complexes that defy conventional diganostic procedures have been attributed by some to "environmental hypersensitivity," ie, sensitivity to foods and/or other allergens. The sensitivity is identified by provocation with intradermal injections of the putative sensitizing agents, including foods, allegedly responsible for an ill-defined symptom complex. Several carefully controlled studies were unable to confirm the validity of this procedure, but the studies have been criticized by proponents of the procedure (eg, members of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine [formerly the Society for Clinical Ecology] and of the Academy of Otolaryngologic Allergy) on the grounds that they did not duplicate the provocation techniques used in clinical practice. In response, the Special Studies Unit of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and the Department of Psychiatry of the University of California, San Francisco, designed and implemented a double-blind study that duplicated the clinical procedures.1 Eighteen patients underwent provocation testing
