Specialty Area: Allergy

Description of Specialty: The diagnosis and treatment of reactions to foreign substances.

1. Diagnosis: Asthma

Questions that should be asked:

1. Why do I get asthma every time I get a cold?
2. I have had a cat for years, why am I now allergic to them?
3. When I touch my cat, I do not sneeze or wheeze, so why do you think that I am allergic?
4. We just had our air ducts cleaned out, will that help?
5. Should we move to another city?
6. What can I do when I visit other homes where there is a cat or dog?
7. Do allergy shots work for asthma?
8. How many times can I use my Inhaler?
9. Is a nebulizer any better for me?

2. Diagnosis: Hay Fever

Questions that should be asked:

1. Do different cities have different levels for things that cause hay fever?
2. Do allergy shots really work?
3. How long will I have to keep taking shots?
4. Can I take my shots at home?
5. Are these allergy shots safe in pregnancy?
6. Will allergy shots cure my hay fever?

3. Diagnosis: Sinusitis

Questions that should be asked:

1. Why do I keep getting so many colds or infections?
2. Why do I have so much postnasal drip?

4. Diagnosis: Hives

Questions that should be asked:

1. Why am I reacting to this food, when I have eaten it all my life?
2. Do skin tests or blood tests help in diagnosing my problem?
3. Is there some cream that I can put on these bumps that will help with the itching?
4. Will these pills make me sleepy?

5. Diagnosis: Vasomotor Rhinitis

Questions that should be asked:

1. Why do I get a headache when I drink only certain wines?
2. Why do I get a headache or nasal congestion when the weather changes?

6. Diagnosis: Drug Reactions

Questions that should be asked:

1. Why am I reacting to this medicine now, when I have taken it so many times in the past? I am allergic to so many drugs.
2. How can I find out which drugs that I can take without having a reaction?

7. Diagnosis: Hymenoptera Reactions

Questions that should be asked:

1. Will the next time that I get stung be worse?
2. How long do I have to take shots with the venom?
3. What do I do about these large local reactions?

8. Diagnosis: Idiopathic Anaphylaxis

Questions that should be asked:

1. Are there not some tests to find out what I am allergic to?
2. What can I do to prevent these attacks from occurring?
3. How long are these adrenaline shots effective?
4. Can I leave my Epi-Pen outside?
5. If the liquid in the Epi-Pen is cloudy, what should I do?

9. Diagnosis: Food Allergy

Questions that should be asked:

1. Why am I reacting to this food when I have eaten it so many times before?
2. Can I take an antihistamine before I eat, so that I will not have a reaction?
3. What should I do if I am having a reaction?

10. Diagnosis: Cough

Questions that should be asked:

1. Why do I cough and not wheeze and you think that I have asthma?

Scott Sale M.D. Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, MO.