UK suffering from allergy ‘epidemic’

The House of Lords science and technology committee has found that there is now a significant number of people suffering from allergies, warranting specialist allergy centres to be introduced.

The number of people suffering allergic reactions has trebled in the last 20 years with a third of the population estimated to suffer at some point in their lives, according to the BBC.

The committee found that the standard of care would not meet demand and the north and south-west of Britain was guilty of “very poor” services especially.

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, chairman of the sub committee that conducted the inquiry, said: “Allergies are an ever growing problem in the west and are now reaching epidemic proportions.”

The advice being given on allergies has also been claimed to be muddled with the committee urging current guidelines on advising pregnant women and young children to avoid eating peanuts to be removed.

Latest studies have shown that avoiding peanut intake could actually have an adverse affect on developing a peanut allergy.

Health minister Ann Keen has insisted that allergy care already has “firm foundations” in the UK which will continue to be built on.