Allergy-Immunology Clinic
Location: Specialty Clinic
Phone: (651) 439-1234
For children and adults with allergies and related diseases.
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An allergist-immunologist is a physician who treats a wide variety of problems, including allergy to pollens, molds, dust mites, pets, foods, stinging insects and drugs. In addition, we treat chronic or recurrent conditions where allergy is not always identified, such as sinusitis, asthma, cough, hives, eczema and anaphylaxis. Lastly, we are also trained to evaluate patients for immune deficiency. |
- Allergy evaluation and testing
- Airborne substances (pollens, dust mites, animals, molds)
- Foods
- Stinging insects
- Latex
- Medications (very limited testing)
- Asthma specialty care, including lung function testing and allergy testing
- Allergen immunotherapy (allergy shots)
- Oral food challenges
- Anaphylaxis (severe allergic reactions) - diagnosis and management
- Sinusitis - evaluation and medical management
- Chronic cough evaluation
- Hives (urticaria) and swelling (angioedema) - control with medications
- Eczema (atopic and contact dermatitis)
- Immune deficiency evaluations
FDA Issues New Safety Requirements for Long-Acting Inhaled Asthma Medications
On Feb. 18, 2010, the FDA issued a drug safety communication which can be found on their web site and is referenced in a variety of Google News articles. Dr. Steven Zekowski, Stillwater Medical Group allergist-immunologist, comments: Some of this communication is not new; but some of it is new (more....)
Are Food Allergies Overdiagnosed?
The Today Show and New York Times featured stories on the overdiagnosis of food allergies. Dr. Steven Zekowski, Stillwater Medical Group's allergist-immunologist comments: Allergy skin tests and blood tests are subject to false positives and, much less often, false negatives. "False positive" means that a test shows up as positive in a patient who does not actually have an allergy to that food. In other words, this patient could eat that food without having any symptoms. In some types of patients, for example young children with eczema, the frequency of a positive test being false may be greater than 50%. How do I sort this out? First, I take a detailed history of exposure to the food and subsequent reactions. Next, I use testing to determine the likelihood of food allergy. Higher positives are more likely to be true positives. Finally, when the risk of significant allergy is low, a food challenge can be done to determine if a patient is truly allergic. Using these methods, I can discover if patients truly have food allergies. Helping patients find foods they can eat again is one of the more rewarding parts of my job.
Allergy-Immunology Provider
"I am very excited to be Stillwater Medical Group's first board-certified allergist. My goal is to create a very high quality allergy clinic using the most current best-practice models in allergy and asthma care." -- Steven Zekowski, MD |
