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Role of the Allergist
Imagine you have been diagnosed with asthma or allergies and your physician refers you to an allergist/immunologist for care. You may question: How can an allergist/immunologist help? What is allergic disease?
An allergist/immunologist is a physician specially trained to manage and treat allergies and asthma. Becoming an allergist/immunologist requires completion of at least nine years of training. As a result of this extensive study and training, an allergist/immunologist is the best-qualified medical professional to effectively manage the comprehensive needs of patients with allergic disease.
Asthma sufferers who are under the care of an allergy specialist are less likely to need emergency hospital care for their disease, according to a study in the March 2003 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI). The study confirmed and extended previous findings showing that allergy specialty care reduces asthma hospitalizations, improves quality of life and reduces costs. The JACI is the peer reviewed journal of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI).
The study also confirmed prior reports suggesting that allergy specialty care is effective in preventing emergency department visits and hospitalizations for asthma. The study showed that increased prescribing of inhaled corticosteroids is an important component of the effect of allergist/immunologist care on reducing emergency hospital care. The findings from the study also suggested that other aspects of allergy specialist care, such as patient education, environmental control, use of other medications and immunotherapy probably contributed to a reduction in emergency hospital care as well.
The term allergist refers to a specialist involved in treating allergies, asthma, urticaria, angioedema, anaphylaxis and other disorders where the basis for these clinical conditions is an over-reaction of IgE-mediated immunity.
An immunologist treats all other disorders that involve non-IgE-mediated immune responses. Examples of these disorders are primary (genetic) and secondary (acquired) immunodeficiencies, autoimmune diseases, cancer, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.
Allergic disease can develop at any age, and heredity plays a key role in who will develop it. Symptoms of allergic disease are the result of events occurring within your immune system—the body's defense mechanism against harmful substances. The body of an individual with allergic disease identifies some substances, called allergens, as harmful. These substances, which are harmless to most people, trigger allergic reactions within that person's immune system.
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