Allergology

What is allergology?

Allergology specialises in investigating the reasons why the human body’s immune system reacts abnormally to certain substances that are not normally harmful. Hypersensitivity to certain elements is called allergy, and this branch of medicine deals with its prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

This speciality works in conjunction with other areas to prevent the onset and alleviate the symptoms of both allergies and the diseases that may result from them.

What does allergology study?

The field of study of allergology is quite broad, as hypersensitivity reactions can be caused by a genetic predisposition, by certain environmental characteristics or by the presence of pollutants in the atmosphere. In addition, allergies manifest themselves differently in different organs, which is why Quirónsalud’s allergists subspecialise in more specific areas such as:

• Bronchial hyperresponsiveness and asthma in sport: analysis of the characteristics of asthma in athletes according to the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This requires the performance of provocation tests with mannitol, methacholine or eucapnic hyperventilation.
• Severe asthma: patients with uncontrolled asthma are treated using a cross-sectional approach involving allergists, otolaryngologists, immunologists and pulmonologists. The main goal is to avoid the need for hospital treatment.
• Childhood Allergology: focuses on the follow-up of childhood-onset allergies.
• Occupational respiratory diseases: responsible for the diagnosis and study of the appearance of occupational diseases, such as silicosis or mesothelioma.
• Food allergy: addresses the diagnosis, management and treatment of food allergies.
• Drug allergies: deals with the diagnosis of drug allergy. Sometimes a drug allergy can be treated by desensitisation, so that a medication to which the patient is allergic can be used on a specific occasion.
• Hymenoptera allergy: studies allergy to hymenoptera (wasps and bees), both diagnosis and treatment.
• Skin allergy: diagnoses skin allergies that are usually caused by contact.

Which patients is it for?

Allergology treats people who present repeated symptoms of an abnormal reaction to the consumption of certain foods, following the ingestion of medication or exposure to certain environmental elements. Typical patients in this speciality have chronic allergy.

Techniques, procedures and diagnostic methods

Diagnostic methods and treatments have advanced significantly in recent years due to scientific progress, but also due to the notable increase in allergic diseases. Preventive therapies, such as immunotherapy or allergen vaccines, are commonly used to reduce long-term symptoms in chronic patients. Common diagnostic tests in allergology include:

• Skin tests: tests that patients traditionally associate with allergology. They are performed using extracts or allergens in their natural source and small intraepidermal punctures.
• Spirometry and pulmonary function tests: test to measure lung capacity and the rate of airflow within the lung. Lung inflammation is also assessed.
• Food allergy testing: traditionally, food allergies have been detected by the exposure method, which consists of tasting a food in increasing amounts and waiting for the allergic reaction to appear. Nowadays, the presence of allergies can be determined by genetic testing with a simple blood test.
• Skin tests: also known as allergic contact tests, these involve local exposure to certain substances to test for allergies.
• Drug tests: skin and drug exposure tests are performed to confirm or rule out drug allergy. Desensitisation, which is a process to enable the patient to tolerate a drug that is necessary for their treatment on a temporary basis, may be carried out on specific occasions.
• Immunotherapy: a treatment aimed at hyposensitising a patient to the allergen that causes their symptoms. This treatment is carried out for respiratory allergens and for hymenoptera.