Sneezing can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'troubling' to 'serious'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.
Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose sneezing, we could:
Cause | Probability | Status |
---|---|---|
Food Allergies | 95% | Confirm |
Hay Fever | 15% | Unlikely |
Milk Allergy | 1% | Ruled out |
Vasomotor Rhinitis | 0% | Ruled out |
Indoor Allergies | 0% | Ruled out |
How often do you sneeze or have sneezing attacks?
Possible responses:
→ Never / almost never→ Occasionally / I think I'm average / don't know → Moderate sneezing → Often / significant sneezing attacks |
"Allergy to cow's milk proteins has been defined as any adverse reaction mediated by immunological mechanisms to one or several of these proteins. Reactions to cow's milk have been classified according on their onset as immediate (< 45 min) or delayed-type (from 2 hours to days). In the challenge test, 10 hours after milk intake the patient presented serous rhinorrea, sneezing and nasal blockade." [J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol, 1998 Jul, 8: p.4]