Patient Information | Types of Allergens | Testing Options | Allergy Treatment

It is estimated that approximately 55 million Americans — 22% of the population — suffer from one or more allergic diseases. Allergy is a common cause of acute and chronic illness, accounting for approximately 10% of all patient visits to the physician’s office and is one of the leading causes of school absenteeism. In addition to producing chronic respiratory problems, allergy interferes with normal growth and development, may cause physical disability and poses substantial social and economic burdens, the latter of which has been estimated in the U.S. to exceed $5 billion a year for rhinitis alone.

Approximately $8 billion were spent in 2001 on prescription allergy medications. Most of these prescriptions were provided without benefit of identifying the causative allergens. As a result, many of the patients who have received these drugs will require chronic, perhaps life-long, drug therapy, the long-term effects of which are unknown.

More importantly, early diagnosis and treatment of the allergic patient has been shown to modify the course of the disease and prevent subsequent development of other conditions such as asthma.