Allergy - Pumpkin Test

Pumpkin is one of the most widely eaten vegetables, and it has numerous advantages as well. However, sometimes some of the people might be allergic to pumpkin seeds. Where these seeds have lots of benefits, for some people, they can be highly dangerous and lead to some severe allergic reactions. If someone is suffering from the allergic reaction done by the pumpkin seeds, he may suffer from the symptom like red, raised and scaly areas of skin and rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms such as sneezing and nasal congestion. It can even lead to asthma attacks. Hence it’s the test, and the proper treatment is necessary.

For the pumpkin allergy test, there are no special preparations such as fasting required. All you need to do is ask the doctor about the different instruction that he wants you to follow before the test. Based on the various medications and allergies, if you have any, the doctor will give you some necessary instructions that should be followed prior to the test. Since it is a blood test, so on the day of the test, you should wear loose or easily foldable shirts. It makes it easy for the doctor to take the sample.

As stated above, the test will see if there are any IgE antibodies present in your blood or not. For the different lab, the values of the antibodies may vary. The test will be positive if there are IgE antibodies (> 100kU/l) available in the blood. In such case, the doctor will see the severity of the allergy and start the treatment. The test will be negative if there are no IgE antibodies present in the blood. In the case of positive test, one should stop taking the pumpkin seed or should take a proper medicine on time.

The method that is used for the allergy test for pumpkin is known as Fluorescence Assay method. It is used to detect the IgE antibodies in the blood against the allergens. First of all the skin and the needle are cleaned with the alcohol. Then an elastic band is wrapped around the upper part of your elbow to stop the blood flow and make the veins visible for injection. Then the needle is injected near your elbow once, and the blood is then collected in the tube attached to the needle. Once enough blood is collected, the needle is ejected, and the sample is taken to the lab, with your name on the sealed tube.