A series of complicated cases is presented in which the aspect of allergy and its careful management influenced the resolution and control of the disease. Examples consist of patients with severe headache, nasal obstruction, pharyngitis, Ménière's disease, gastrointestinal trouble — especially vomiting and diarrhea, anorexia nervosa, bronchiectasis, and severe chronic otitis externa with generalized eczema. The methods used to detect the allergic factors are mentioned, and the treatment necessary to bring about resolution of the diseases is discussed. Pertinent knowledge obtained from each case is elucidated.

The diagnosis of food allergy remains one of the infrequently solved problems in medicine; furthermore, its importance is only occasionally recognized, and I emphasize the statement of Dr. William Kaufman in 195514 that no physician can estimate with any degree of accuracy how much ill health and human misery result from ailments caused by undiagnosed food allergy. From the large and varied sampling of patients who consulted him in his practice of internal medicine during the preceding 12 years, he could say with confidence that most practicing physicians see many patients almost daily who present themselves with a wide variety of complaints, which are caused by unrecognized food allergies.

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