As you talk about Breakspear here I want to say I was a patient there for several years and I have to say that my experience is mixed.

I spent thousands on the allergy vaccines but they had absolutely no effect on me (although they did seem to be doing other people there some good, or perhaps that’s what they thought seeing me there)… The main reason for the cost was days and days of testing, the treatment itself was not that expensive but after 6 months I had to give up (because you need regular re-testing hence more expense).

I’ve recently found enzyme-potentiated desensitization to be much more beneficial and though expensive, its not in the thousands, its around £70 for an injection every 2 months. The beauty of it is no testing.

What Breakspear did do well, was direct me towards useful tests (often at American labs) that looked for intestinal parasites, bacteria overgrowth, beneficial bacterial, inflammation, absorption etc. I found my IBS was actually an inflammatory bowel disease and have been doing better since I addressed that. However the allergies were a total waste. Of course someone with an inflammatory disease is going to have problems with food. Trying to neutralise allergies in a situation of inflammation is hopeless.

The EPD injections and reformed diet are helping me a lot. Its easy to keep on paying when you don’t get better because you feel so awful but my advice is get as much information as you can for yourself, don’t just accept what doctors are saying to you, or that what worked miracles for one person will do the same for you and Good luck!

“Bryan’s Leukocytotoxic test was originally developed in 1956 by a Dr Black, and further elucidated by Bryan in 1960. The basis of the test is that if the patient’s white blood cells are mixed with the offending allergen, they swell. The test then measures any swelling of the Leukocytes (white blood Cells) and if a certain threshold of swelling is measured., using a Coulter Counter – a Positive result is recorded. Studies to date have shown poor correlation between this test and clinical allergy. The marketers, who rely on anecdotal evidence of efficacy, do not mention these disappointing clinical studies. A large number of allergens are tested for and patients are usually positive to a number of foods, additives and other agents. Katelaris in Australia and Steinman in South Africa both conducted studies on the ALCAT test and found no diagnostic accuracy. At present the test is marketed in the UK under the name “Nutron”. Despite claims to the contrary, no large studies have ever shown the test to be accurate despite it being available for 44 years.

The original protagonists of the ALCAT test (which includes the Leucocytotoxic test and Nutron Test) could only site a few non-peer reviewed congress abstracts as evidence that it had worked. While the antagonists (some of the leading opinion leaders in the allergy of field including Bindslev-Jensen, Potter and Katelaris) have substantial data on record to show a poor diagnostic accuracy. The lack of medical support for these tests, is often blamed on a conspiracy by the larger Multinational Diagnostic companies to try and remove the “smaller” opposition from the market. This perception is not a true evaluation of the situation.”

The ALCAT Test differs from other food allergy or intolerance tests as it accurately and objectively measures leukocyte cellular reactivity in whole blood, which is a final common pathway of all mechanisms. The test utilizes electronic, state of the art, hematological instrumentation. Standard allergy tests, such as skin testing or RAST are not accurate for delayed type reactions to foods and chemicals. They measure only a single mechanism, such as the effect of mast cell release of histamine or the presence of allergen specific IgE molecules. Delayed reactions to foods and chemicals are NOT IgE mediated.

The ALCAT Test also differs from standard IgG tests in that they rely exclusively on one immune pathway, serum levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG). In fact, high food specific IgG titers are indicative only of exposure, not necessarily intolerance.

Firstly, if Holford supports this ALCAT lot, I wonder if he knows how mean they are about the type of IgG tests that he (also) supports? Will Health Products for Life soon be replacing Yorktest with ALCAT on their site?

Secondly, this ALCAT testing sounds remarkable. It could be that this is a brilliant scientific discovery that for some reason seems (going from the research summarised on their website) to have only a few small studies suggesting it maybe does something interesting. Or it could be that this is just another unverified food allergy/intolerance test. Anyone want to guess which it is?