The answer is quite simply, yes. A perfect opportunity for the sceptic to dismiss the subject as an intellectual sideshow. The current confusion is actively preventing the development of this unique opportunity. Without an agreed and demonstrable biochemical pathway, tests have evolved which measure different responses yet purport to answer the same question, i.e. what foods should the individual avoid. Most laboratory-based methods agree that an immune response is involved.
Testing falls into three main categories.
The oldest relies on a microscope to investigate the condition of the white cells,6 this was augmented by the simple cell counter and, latterly, the development of the chemical marker assay.7,8 Each, for its time, represented a technological advance but none really superseded its predecessor, consequently specialists continue to use the method to which they have become accustomed. Without an agreed biochemical pathway it was impossible to judge the relative merits of the different techniques. Now a more complete understanding reveals serious deficiencies in each design. Vacuolation Exogenous stimuli can adhere to the surface of the neutrophil. By activating the surface, the cell may become porous resulting in the leakage of inflammatory mediators externally.