Hello
could anyone tell me what a result of +36 on a RAS test for cat hair / dander allergy means? I have an appointment with the asthma nurse in a week but got this result from the surgery and am curious. I have googled it but answers are confusing! The result for house dust mite allergy was only +1.
Thank you.
mtw.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploa...
page 6 - between grades 4 & 5, both are determined as 'strong positive'.
Assuming your Cat specific IgE is 36 and not 0.36, then yes... thats very positive. If you react in places that have cats ..or youcactually hsve one yourself... then its time to get rid of "tiddles"....or ask for desensitisation. I did this 10 years ago. ...as I couldn't visit close family who loved their cats. All fine now. Dust mite of 1 is moderately positive...but all depends on symptoms.
....btw....its not the cat hair but a protein secreted in cat saliver that causes allergic reaction...and it gets everywhere. Ditto for house mites....its a gut secretions that gets out via their faeces.... microscopic particles and your house and bedding is full of it. Sleeping under an Airsonett might help.
If you get an answer, I'd be very interested. I was told I have an allergy to cats. I've never kept cats and, except for a few strays in the garden, hardly have any contact with them; and when I have had contact, it's never affected me. I have heard/seen comments which suggest that this test is not very convincing - perhaps there are other allergens which produce the same result, but "cats" seem to be the standard interpretation. Certainly, my consultant seems convinced, but it's not likely to have any significance for me given my lack of feline contact!
What this is saying is that you have an allergy to cats hair and the dander. The dander is the hair that continually sheds from an animal and gets into the air. You can buy stuff from the vets to help with this. x
Thank you everyone for your helpful and interesting replies.
I'll now wait for my appointment with the asthma nurse to see where to go from here. In the meantime I'll look into the stuff from the vet and also a Hoover with hepa filter. Desensitization would be ideal and I'll investigate that, but when I mentioned it to the GP (before this blood test confirmation) he didn't seem to think it was an option. Thank you again.
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