Food Allergy Testing

April 6, 2012 / Charles W. Lapp, MD / Ask The Doctor

On April 4, 2012 Rita S. asked: What is your opinion of the ALCAT test for food sensitivities? I hear that it is controversial, but I feel like some of my symptoms are related to food sensitivities.

There is no good lab test for food sensitivities. The best method is “withdrawal and challenge”; that is, stop a food for 3-4 days, then try it and see what happens. This is otherwise known as an “elimination diet” or a “challenge test.” Blood tests such as the ALCAT, IgG, LEAP, ELISA, and RAST test are highly controversial, but might give you a rough idea what items you want to test. An excellent brochure on Food Allergy is published by the National Institute of Alergies and Infectious Diseases, and can be found at www.allergywatch.org/basic/food_allergy.pdf .

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Dr. Hillman was born and reared in Utica, New York. He attended college at Clarkson University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering, and then spent two years toward a master’s degree in biochemistry/oncology at the University of Buffalo’s Roswell Park Division, where he did research in leukemia. Dr. Hillman attended St. George’s University School of Medicine, and completed his clinical years at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, graduating in 1996. During the Summer of 1994 he also did research at the University of Buffalo Dental School using PCR technology on RNA subtyping of gram negative oral bacteria. Following medical school, Hillman went on to a Family Practice Residency at North Shore / Long Island Jewish Hospital in Bay Shore, NY.

After his residency, Dr. Hillman worked for the US Army at the West Point Military Academy (Keller Army Hospital family practice unit), worked in the Emergency Room and hospital admitting areas, and ran a private practice as well. From 2005-2006 he also worked at the Winn Army Hospital at Fort Stewart, GA, before setting up a private Family Practice in Huntersville, NC in 2007. In addition to his private practice Dr. Hillman also has an interest in helping clients with disabilities. He has worked for ProMed Urgent Care in Occupational Medicine and performed over 13,000 examinations for Social Security Disability.

Dr. Hillman has a family member with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so he has a long standing interest and empathy with the disorder! He is married and has two sons and a daughter. The family lives in Huntersville.

Hunter-Hopkins Center, PLLC

Food Allergy Testing

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