QUESTION: How sensitive is the serum DAO test to diagnose histamine intolerance ? Also, do you supplement with DAO in patients ? Are there any other tests that can help here? We know Tryptase is unreliable unless they have true mastocytosis and serum Histamine is unstable.
ANSWER: There is no way to test efficiently for DAO. Yes SNP’s are helpful, but you don’t know if they are epigenetically turned on or not. And they can have no SNP and a blocked DAO enzyme due to other factors like toxicity (metals especially) and micronutrient insufficiency. In a suspected DAO patient you *can* use PO DAO supplements as a therapeutic trial. If it helps great – you know that is ONE of likely many problems. If all you treat is DAO it almost never lasts. This is because so many factors crossover with suspected DAO issues.
Those include GI dysbiosis and infectious overgrowth (if that is even at low level you never get over the histamine issues until the gut is clear and healed).
High histamine diet (like DAO supplements a low histamine diet is a helpful tool but unless other causes clear it never solves anything).
Other things slowing the THREE histamine degradation pathways such as hormonal issues, COMT-MAO issues, Toxins etc.
Bottom line: If DAO supps help use them but never assume they are a cure. Same with a low histamine diet. Key is clearing all the other triggers that caused them to become so sensitive. This process may take 6-24 months at least in a highly symptomatic patient.
** See the many Histamine papers I have and the two web calls I have on the topic for specifics.