Physician Information | Testing Options | Allergy in Your Practice | Tools for Your Practice 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 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. As reported in the Expert Panel Report 2 funded by the National Institutes of Health, atopy, the genetic state of hyper-responsiveness to allergens, is the strongest identifiable predisposing factor for the development of asthma. It has been hypothesized that allergic sensitization at a young age results in a state of chronic airway inflammation, which increases the child’s susceptibility to nasal and ear infections. Chronic allergy-mediated inflammation and associated infections can cause mucosal damage and lung remodeling that can ultimately lead to asthma.      A number of studies, including those published in the 1999 World Health Organization ARIA Workshop Report, indicate that early treatment of allergy can change the course of the disease progression, with clinical intervention appearing the most effective if the treatments are initiated before the age of six, highlighting the importance of early diagnostic testing. 1. Nalebuff, DJ and Fadal, RG Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis (2001) 2. Bousquet, J J Allergy Clin Immunol 108, S147-334 (2001) 3. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 9, 116-124 (1998) 4. Martinez, FD Pediatrics 109, 362-367 (2002) 5. Expert Panel Report 2, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, 1997; NIH publication 97-4051