Dr. Adrian Morris of Surrey Allergy Clinic Tests and Treats allergies » children’s allergies

NICE Food Allergy Guidelines in Children

Dr. Adrian Morris — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:52:19 +0000

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has released consultation guidelines for diagnosing and treating food allergy in children and young people. Although long overdue these guidelines are most welcome. This document released this month highlights that in Europe and North America 6 – 8% of children under 3 years suffer with some form of IgE mediated food allergy. While only 25-40% of children with a self diagnosed food allergy will actually have a food allergy confirmed. The incidence of non-IgE food allergies is largely unknown due to the limited accurate diagnostic tests available. The guidelines stress that the clinical history of the food allergy taken by a competent practitioner is most important in diagnosing an allergy and allergy tests done in isolation can be misleading. Skin Prick tests and specific IgE testing on a blood sample are the most reliable food allergy tests available. Diagnosing food allergies and intolerances using Vega testing, applied kinesiology, hair analysis, leucocytotoxic testing and IgG blood tests are inaccurate and should be discouraged.

Reference: Food allergy in children and young people: Guideline consultation www.nice.org.uk

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10925371

Home hygiene, infections and allergies

Dr. Adrian Morris — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:40:27 +0000

A recent study on children attending day care or nurseries by de Jongste in the American Thoracic Society journal cast some doubt on the so-called Hygiene Hypothesis for allergy development. The Hygiene Hypothesis notion that farm animal faeces exposure and childhood infections will prevent allergies has been promoted for decades. The hygiene hypothesis essentially links a more clean and sterile home environment with the overall rise in allergies seen in many developed Western counties. Poor living conditions with early exposure to germs, infections and parasites seem to shift the infant’s immune system into survival mode (TH1) and away from allergy mode (TH2) when allergy testing. However this immune switching probably occurs very early in the first few months of life. Therefore as mentioned in the American study, day care centre exposure and subsequent childhood infections may have little impact on allergy development. Particularly if the child attends a day-centre after one year of age when their immune type reactivity is more established. It still seems likely that a germ-filled household with difficult living conditions and plenty of sickly older siblings will be more protective from allergies while a sterile, insular environment in early infancy seems to promote allergies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8241774.stm