Allergy - Milk Test

A milk allergy is a food allergy, also called as dairy allergy is an adverse immune reaction to one or more of the protein constituents of milk from any animal (most commonly in cow's milk). The body manifests either an antibody-based immune response or a cell-based immune response to these allergens. Antibody responses are usually rapid and can involve anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening condition. Cell-mediated responses take hours to days to appear. The effects of antibody-mediated allergy are rapid in onset, evolving within minutes or seconds. These allergies always arise within an hour of drinking milk; but can occasionally be delayed longer when eating food containing milk as an ingredient. The effects of non-antibody-mediated allergy is delayed; because it is not caused by antibodies, it can take several hours, or even up to 72 hours to produce a clinical effect. The most common symptoms for both types are hives and swelling, vomiting, and wheezing, with symptoms first arising in skin, then the GI tract, and less commonly, the respiratory tract.

No special preparation is needed for Milk allergy. Inform your doctor if you are on any medications or have any underlying medical conditions or allergies before undergoing Milk allergy. It’s a simple blood test so, it’s better not to eat past hour to get best results. Your doctor depending on your condition will give specific instructions.

Milk allergy test is performed on a sample of blood to measure the level of amount of immunoglobulin E (IgE) Antibodies in the blood. It is performed to confirm Milk allergy and also during the treatment and after the treatment of Milk allergy

Milk allergy is done using Fluorescence Assay method on a Blood sample. This procedure involves detection of allergen specific amount of immunoglobulin E (IgE) in a blood sample. An alcohol pad is used to clean the skin. A needle is then injected through the part of rinsed skin into to your vein specifically in the one that can be seen from the skin. The blood is dragged out from the needle by a nozzle, saved in a vessel and sealed with your name. This sample is carried to the research laboratory for examination.