Frequently asked Questions
What foods are tested in the P88-DIY?
What are the costs of the test
For 399€ the test measures four immune reactions in one test with an extensiv report including an alphabetically summary, two different diet suggestions and the Immune Index.
Are the costs for the P88 DIY reimbursed by private health insurance companies?
The P88 DIY is NOT billed according to GOÄ. The test is a private service and unfortunately no guarantee of reimbursement can be given.
What is the difference between an allergy and sensitivity?
An allergy is mediated by IgE antibodies and creates an immediate reaction. A sensitivity is created by IgG antibodies and create a delayed response. While these general traits hold true, there are also times when IgG can amplify IgE reactions, and also some examples of if there is a remarkably high level of IgG, it can have more of an immediate reaction too. They create independent reactions but can also influence each other. IgG is most typically a delayed reaction, but if high enough titers are present, it too can react within a few hours. The interplay between parts of the immune system demonstrates why it is best to look at multiple antibodies together.
Why Test Complement and IgG together?
Complement plays a role in how inflammatory an IgG antibody is. Complement binds to IgG and creates a synergistic effect in terms of increasing inflammation. The combination of complement and IgG together can increase inflammation 1000 to 10,000-fold.
Why Test IgE and IgG4 together?
IgG4 is indicative of immune tolerance. IgG4 can reduce histamine secretion in an immediate allergic reaction by inhibiting the binding of IgE to the receptor. By measuring both IgE and IgG4 you can determine the severity of your patient’s reaction to certain foods. However, there are a handful of conditions that increase IgG4 reactions. When a patient has IgG4-RDs it may be helpful to remove foods that are IgG4 positive.
Why Test IgG and IgE together?
IgE and IgG should be measured together because they each independently play a role in symptoms to foods. You can either have an allergy/IgE response, or a sensitivity IgG response and both are independent of the other and create inflammation in the body.
Is IgG4 good or bad?
IgG4 is by and large good, as it blunts an IgE response and reduces anaphylactic shock. In fact, desensitization injections and drops work by this mechanism of increasing Ig4 to induce tolerance.
However, there are a handful of conditions that increase IgG4 reactions, and if the patient has one of these conditions it may be helpful to remove foods that are provoking an IgG4 reaction.
What is the difference between Gluten and Wheat on the report?
Gluten is in whole wheat; however, wheat has other proteins that you could react to. It is possible for someone to come back positive to wheat and not gluten, and that would mean you are reactive to other proteins in the wheat instead of the gluten.
If your patient comes back positive to gluten, but not to wheat, it is because the other proteins in wheat can obscure a bit of the binding to gluten, so it is also isolated, and run separately. We do this is to catch smaller gluten reactions that did not show up because of other proteins obscuring reactions and because you will capture lower-level reactions that are only seen when gluten is isolated. Because it is such an antigenic molecule, it is important to see if even minimal amounts will trigger reactivity.
Why testing mold?
Of course, nobody would sit in front of a bowl of moldy food and eat it. But allergy or sensitivity to mold worsens chronic conditions. After detecting positive immune reactions to mold potentially moldy foods should be avoided. Mold in the environment also must be taken into consideration.
Aspergillus Mix – which molds are tested?
MOLDS TESTED INCLUDE: Asper-gillus (A. oryzae, A. niger, A repent, A. terries).
What foods are high in Mold?
Key foods to avoid for elevated mold reaction are moldy cheeses, peanuts, melons, and sake. Vinegar & Vinegar containing food (food (mayonnaise, salad dressings, catsup, chili sauce, pickled foods, relishes, green olives, mustard ), Alcohol, Soured Breads, Sauerkraut, Cider & Root beer, pick- led & smoked meats. All dried fruits, Canned tomatoes (unless homemade), & all canned juice. Only freshly opened canned foods & freshly prepared foods should be consumed. Meat or fish should not be more than 24 hours old. Avoid food from leftovers and avoid Hamburgers if not made from freshly ground meat. For patients with severe reactions and active symptoms, a more restrictive mold diet may be needed. Consider using Konjac Fiber, which binds to mold aflatoxin.
What should I do if mold comes back positive?
The P88-DIY meassures the immune response to mold. It can not answer the question of the mold exposure. Besides moldy foods also the living environment and working place has to be taken into considaration.
Cross Reaktivity - What should I know?
Cross-reactivity occurs when the protein structure of one substance is similar to another. Our body's immune system may react to the similar structure as it would to the true allergen. Cross-reactivity can occur to other foods as well as the envirement such as airborne antigens (pollen, mite feces...) or contact antigens (latex). This way it is possible there is a positive immune reaction to a food that is never consumed. When a food that is never consumed shows up positive in the test we first have to rule out hidden sources in the diet. The next most likely explanation is that there is cross-reactivity. Cross-reactivity does not only happen from foods in the same food family, but also from things in the environment to foods as well. For example, someone who is reactive to beef, but is vegetarian, may have been bitten by a tick as there is cross-reactivity between beef immunoglobulins and tick antibodies. If one is sensitive to latex, you may also be sensitive to bananas as well, because they are in the same family. Cross-reactivity may explain many unusual reactions, and a complete list of cross-reactivity between foods and the environment, and food families can be found in our Physicians Guide to the P88 DAT.
Are IgG reactions the result or the cause of gut-based permeability?
IgG reactions are both the cause and the result of gut-based permeability. One way we develop IgG reactions is when the gut becomes more compromised or permeable. This allows for larger molecules than normal to “leak” through the gut. These larger molecules look antigenic to the immune system. T cells become sensitized and begin to make an immune response or produce antibodies
However, this is not the only way one can become sensitive to foods. Improper immune queuing in the GI tract, specifically in cells called the Peyer’s patches, can also cause this too.
Once an IgG reaction begins, it increases production of histamine and inflammation. This inflammation continues to damage the gut, thereby contributing to permeability. The best way to reduce gut-based inflammation, is to remove offending foods and work on healing the gut.
Reaction to gluten, but it does not show up on the test, why?
Reactions to gluten could be because of allergies or sensitivities, but there are also a number of other reasons you can feel bad from gluten outside of sensitivities. For example, gluten more than other grains decreases the tryptophan to serotonin ratio, making production of this neurotransmitter more difficult. Also, gluten can often be contaminated with bromides that decreases other important nutrients like Iodine which compromises thyroid function.
- Studies have linked gluten to reduced levels of free tryptophan and, as a result, reduced serotonin production with the corresponding psychological effects.
- Gluten can be contaminated with bromides, which interfere with the absorption of iodide and thus impair thyroid function.
- Gluten can often be moldy, as commercial grains are measured for ppm of aflatoxin and are generally positive for this contaminate.
Can food sensitivities be related to weight gain?
Food sensitivities can be related to weight gain in that they will create more inflammation in the body. Inflammation will cause an increase in the hormone leptin, which in turn tells adipose tissue to store more fat. Inflammatory foods create and irritation that leads to weight gain.
Thyroid condition and immune reactions to food – What is the connection?
Foods causing an immune reaction can cause symptoms itself, but also decrease thyroid activity. IgG4 reactions to foods have been shown to specifically damage the thyroid tissue. Complement reactions also damage thyroid tissue. This is the only food test that looks at the exact components that are most damaging to the thyroid. Immune reactions to foods create inflammation. This inflammation causes the body to be less able to convert T4 into T3. Ongoing exposure to foods which cause immune reactions, can increase antibody production, causing the body to attack thyroid tissue. Eliminating foods, a person is sensitive to is a great first step to increasing thyroid function naturally.
Can food sensitivities be related to other issues such as headaches, pain, or depression?
Yes! While the beginning of the reaction to foods starts in the gut, it does not have to necessarily create gut pain, or be contained in the GI tract. The inflammatory process that starts in the gut can spread and even be more symptomatic in places outside of the gut. Many conditions such as head- aches, pain and even depression have a gut-based cause but manifest in other areas of the body.
How are reference ranges determined?
Every lab is required to develop their own reference ranges. For this reason, you should not expect ranges to be the same from lab to lab.
At Precision, we look at the values over the hundreds of thousands of specimens we have run, and then looked at distributions. In general, the top 5% is determined high (>95%), and then the next 20% is moderate (>75%-95%), and then the next 65% is low. The remaining 10% are considered as no reaction. Hoch eingestuft (>95%), die nächsten 20% als Moderat (>75% – 95%) und die nächsten 65% als Niedrig (>10% – 75%). Die unteren 10% werden als ‚ohne Reaktion‘ angesehen.
However, when there is epidemiologic evidence that the population in general has more difficulty with a food, such as dairy, casein, wheat, gluten, egg, shellfish and tree-nuts we will consider %-reactivity in populations in general, and consider research and data, alongside our distributions to create a range. High range in foods with a greater pevalence of reactivity in the general population is defined as the top 10% (>90%), moderate range as the next 40% (>50%-90%), and low range as the next 40% (>10%-50%). Again, the remaining 10% are considered as no reaction. Hoch eingestuft, die folgenden 40% (>50% – 90%) als Moderat und die nächsten 40% (>10% – 50%) als Niedrig eingestuft. Auch hier gelten die letzten 10% (>10%) als nicht reaktiv.
Why testing candida?
Positive reactions to Candida indicate a previous or current Candida infection. Moderate or high values are more likely to indicate a current infection.
Candida has the property of intensifying IgE and IgG immune reactions.
When Candida overgrows, it releases proteases that break down sIgA. This weakens the mucosal immune defense and increases systemic reactions. As a result, even when the foods causing the reactions are eliminated, their IgE and/or IgG titers remain elevated longer than expected.
Elevated Candida titers are often seen in cases of symptoms such as tiredness, fatigue, and bloating.
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