A peak medical body has warned that people are being conned by alternative allergy tests and treatments that are scientifically unproven and useless.

Australians currently spend more than $2 billion a year on the controversial trade and the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) fears consumers are continuing to use these methods despite the health risks.

An array of unorthodox tests and treatments for allergy are readily available nationwide from suburban outlets or online retailers.

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These include techniques with contrived titles such as Vega Testing, VoiceBio and Radionics. Invariably, they are provided without the involvement of a registered doctor and consultations can cost up to $500.

Leading immunologist and ASCIA spokesperson Dr Sara Barnes said unorthodox testing and treatment methods for allergy continued to be actively promoted in the community, despite numerous scientific studies showing they were misleading and ineffective.

“Some even make false claims that they can cure allergy but, because there are no regulations to control them, they can continue to market their methods in Australia without having to prove that they actually work,” she told The New Daily.

ASCIA is expected to strongly raise the issue of deceptive allergy testing and treatment when it launches its National Allergy Strategy in Sydney on August 7.

An allergy typically occurs when a person’s immune system reacts to substances in the environment such as house dust mites, pets, pollen, insects, moulds, foods and some medicines. Symptoms can vary from mild to potentially life-threatening.

While there is no cure, doctors use several medically-approved tests to diagnose an allergy, including skin prick and blood tests, before treating the condition with medication, allergen immunotherapy or preventative strategies.

There are currently no controls on alternative allergy practitioners in Australia, whereas a doctor treating allergy is subjected to government, medical board and advertising regulations.

Dr Barnes, from Monash Health in Melbourne, said people often sought out alternative allergy treatments in a desperate bid to get better.

“It’s because people want an answer and are desperate to find a cure to their suffering,” she said. “There is no quick fix for allergic diseases but modern medicine can very effectively manage them.

“Many people do genuinely believe these unorthodox treatments work, yet these are methods that have not been scientifically validated and may lead to unnecessary, costly and even dangerous changes in diet.

“Someone with an allergy risks potential harm if they are wrongly diagnosed by these alternative tests and then given treatments they don’t need, particularly if their ailment is severe.

“People are spending a lot of money on a variety of alternative treatments but are getting no benefit whatsoever.”

Despite medical advances in the diagnosis and treatment of allergy, it is estimated up to 70 per cent of Australian sufferers use alternative practitioners, spending more than $600 million a year in consultations and another $1.5 billion for complementary medicines.

ASCIA partly blames this uptake on a trend towards traditional Eastern healthcare philosophies in Western society as well as “uncritical” publicity given to claims of “new cures” for allergy.

ASCIA lists a range of “inappropriate testing” methods on its website. These includes cytotoxic testing (Bryans’ or Alcat testing), oral provocation and neutralisation, Vega testing (electrodermal testing), kinesiology, Radionics (psionic medicine, dowsing), iridology, pulse testing, hair analysis, tests for “dysbiosis” and VoiceBio.

“Unorthodox treatments” include homoeopathy, acupuncture, reflexology (zone therapy), autogenous urine therapy, chiropractic therapy, osteopathy, cranial therapy, Vega MRT (Matrix Regeneration Therapy) and enzyme potentiated immunotherapy.

ASCIA says unorthodox practitioners often claim that conditions such as headache, migraine, irritable bowel, muscle tension, pain, addiction, premenstrual syndrome, fatigue and even depression are due to hidden allergies, yet present no evidence.

Instead of attributing allergy to the immune system, they blamed a “disturbance of vital life force or energy” or external triggers such as environmental toxins, chemicals, food additives or chronic infection.

ASCIA also claims unorthodox practitioners often use loose terminology, blur and confuse the distinction between “fatigue” and “immunity”, and blend concepts of immunology, neurology and spirituality to explain the nature and causes of disease.

In the UK, the charity organisation Sense About Science has claimed that confusion about allergies is putting people needlessly at risk

Its recently-released guide, Making Sense of Allergies, warns that ineffective allergy tests and other kinds of self-diagnosis are creating a large proportion of people who think they have an allergy when they don’t.

One study found 34 per cent of parents reported food allergies in their children but only five per cent actually had an allergy. Myths about artificial additives, junk food and immunisations causing allergies were also contributing to self-diagnosed allergy.

“The result is that people are not getting other medical conditions diagnosed, taking useless treatments, and needlessly restricting diets, including for children where resulting cases of malnutrition have been observed by clinicians,” the guide says.