testing-Various types of skin responses have been investigated and are E) Skin reasonably correlated with clinical food response in some tests but not in others. It was long thought that the skin response was mediated exclusively through lgE antibodies. If this were the case, a better correlation between lgE antibodies and skin responses should be shown (unless both tests simply have a high level of error). DISADVANTAGES AND ADVANTAGES OF MERIDIAN STRESS ASSESSMENT Disadvantages- Antihistamines, corticosteroids, and other medications may suppress a person's immune reactivity, resulting in false positive readings on the instrument. Skin testing may also be suppressed in the same way. False positive reactions may occur in response to chemicals in the environment in which the testing occurs (such as reactions to perfumes, cleaners, etc.) Occasionally, for unknown reasons, the instrument fails to identify a food, chemical or inhalant to which a person by history repeatedly reacts. The instrument may also occasionally identify an allergen as positive, even though avoidance and re-exposure fails to confirm that finding. Although not perfect, double-blind studies using meridian stress assessment have shown a better correlation with food allergy than any other known test. It is also our clinical impression that meridian stress assessment correlates more closely with the observations of the patient than the more traditional forms of testing. Other advocates of meridian stress assessment share this viewpoint. One doctor from Colorado reported the results of a survey of 109 patients tested with this technique. All had been tested by some other method in the past, and 69 percent thought that the results of meridian stress assessment were more reliable than more conventional testing, with only 5 percent reporting it is less reliable. The rest either thought it was the same or didn't comment. Since there is no reliable standard by which to compare meridian stress assessment, at the present time there is no reliable way to assess its accuracy. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of meridian stress assessment is the poor acceptance of the technique by some physicians. There has been a tendency by some, with a 1910 mentality, to dismiss it
E) Skin testing-Various types of skin responses have been investigated and are reasonably correlated with clinical food response in some tests but not in others. It was long thought that the skin response was mediated exclusively through lgE antibodies. If this were the case, a better correlation between lgE antibodies and skin responses should be shown (unless both tests simply have a high level of error). DISADVANTAGES AND ADVANTAGES OF MERIDIAN STRESS ASSESSMENT Disadvantages- Antihistamines, corticosteroids, and other medications may suppress a person's immune reactivity, resulting in false positive readings on the instrument. Skin testing may also be suppressed in the same way. False positive reactions may occur in response to chemicals in the environment in which the testing occurs (such as reactions to perfumes, cleaners, etc.) Occasionally, for unknown reasons, the instrument fails to identify a food, chemical or inhalant to which a person by history repeatedly reacts. The instrument may also occasionally identify an allergen as positive, even though avoidance and re-exposure fails to confirm that finding. Although not perfect, double-blind studies using meridian stress assessment have shown a better correlation with food allergy than any other known test. It is also our clinical impression that meridian stress assessment correlates more closely with the observations of the patient than the more traditional forms of testing. Other advocates of meridian stress assessment share this viewpoint. One doctor from Colorado reported the results of a survey of 109 patients tested with this technique. All had been tested by some other method in the past, and 69 percent thought that the results of meridian stress assessment were more reliable than more conventional testing, with only 5 percent reporting it is less reliable. The rest either thought it was the same or didn't comment. Since there is no reliable standard by which to compare meridian stress assessment, at the present time there is no reliable way to assess its accuracy. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of meridian stress assessment is the poor acceptance of the technique by some physicians. There has been a tendency by some, with a 1910 mentality, to dismiss it
A_HISTORY_OF_MERIDIAN_STRESS_ASSESSMENT_by_Dennis_W.docx