As a new Channel 4 documentary highlights a fivefold increase in severe allergies in the last ten years, JO HAYWOOD asks where North Yorkshire sufferers can go to get help.

WITH an estimated 15 million sufferers across Britain, some health experts now claim we are in the grip of an allergy epidemic.

But if that's the case, why are there only ten full-time NHS specialist allergy consultants in the UK?

Here in North Yorkshire we have just one consultant allergist, Dr EGC McLusky. He runs one session a week at Harrogate District Hospital and is, needless to say, an extremely busy man.

Allergic To Everything, a Channel 4 documentary which airs tomorrow at 9pm, claims there is a chronic lack of specialist care in this country.

Locally, the bare facts appear to back up that claim. But do they actually show a lack of care or a lack of specialists?

"There is not a shortage of services for people in this area," said Dr Calum Lyon, a dermatologist at York Hospital.

"Unfortunately, there are not enough immunologists to go round. This doesn't mean, however, that sufferers are not receiving a good level of care.

"We don't have a specialist allergy clinic here in York, but we do provide the necessary services. Those services are stretched though."

Jayne Dwyer, local representative for the Anaphylaxis Campaign, agreed.

"We don't have an allergy clinic, but we do have the services," she said. "We have access to immunologists and we've got a particularly good paediatric clinic where the staff are very knowledgeable about allergies.

"The information and help are there, if you know where to look."

Dr Lyon believes some people are over-using the diagnostic services available, over-stretching NHS clinics and adding to the profits of commercial companies that provide private allergy and intolerance testing.

"I'm not saying we don't have a problem with allergies," he said, "but maybe figures are being inflated by people who want to be investigated for allergies rather than those who are detrimentally affected.

"I certainly haven't seen a dramatic increase in sufferers. I have noticed an increase in people who want to be tested though."

York Hospital offers a wide range of allergy testing, including blood, patch and pricking tests.

Patients are referred to the dermatology, respiratory and paediatric departments, depending on their symptoms, by their GP. Most can be treated in York, but the more extreme or unusual cases are referred on to immunologists in Leeds and Hull.

"I would always advise people to go to their GP first," said Dr Lyon. "Don't go down the line of commercial testing. The results can be very misleading and are generally not reliable. They can test for everything but prove nothing."

It is extremely difficult to pin down a reaction to one particular food type. Eating a meal causes a chemical storm in your stomach as the foodstuffs mix and react with each other.

So, while you may not get a reaction from chicken and lentils separately, for example, if you eat them together you may suffer an allergic reaction.

According to Dr Lyon, in many cases there is also little practical use in knowing a particular foodstuff causes a reaction.

"A change of diet often makes no difference at all," he said, "or it can make a short-term difference before going back to square one."

Mrs Dwyer is not a fan of commercial testing.

"There are numerous tests available now, but getting a list of your allergies through the post doesn't constitute treatment," she said.

"You need to be able to sit down with a specialist and talk about how to manage your allergies."

The Anaphylaxis Campaign does not endorse any alternative treatments, backed up by a Which? report dating back to 1994 that put numerous alternatives to the test and found that none was reliable.

It's advice in the first instance is always to make an appointment with your GP and wait for a referral.

"People living in other parts of the country don't have it so good," said Mrs Dwyer. "Elsewhere, particularly in Scotland, people can be left waiting for months, even years, before getting access to services. We are relatively lucky."

Even Dr Lyon admits that the system could be better.

"I should like to set up an allergy clinic, but there aren't enough hours in the day," he said.

"A clinic would give us the chance to focus on allergies, allowing quicker diagnosis and treatment. But I can't see a focussed clinic being set up in York any time soon."

Dr David Geddes, a Clifton GP and medical director of Selby and York Primary Care Trust, doesn't believe an allergy clinic would add anything to the services already available.

"Most allergies can be dealt with at primary care level," he said. "And if GPs need additional specialist help, it is readily available. I don't think we need a new distinct service."

He blamed the media's obsession with allergy and food intolerance and the "pseudo-scientific nature of businesses developing allergy testing" for the creation of a modern allergy culture.

"There are food substances that our bodies don't particularly like, but I don't necessarily think they should be treated as allergies," said Dr Geddes.

"We are at risk of medicalising something that doesn't need medical treatment.

"People have to put their reaction into its proper context. Why worry unduly about something that has no real effect on your life?"

Allergic To Everything is on Channel 4, Thurday, June 30, at 9pm

Anaphylaxis, allergy or intolerance?

Anaphylaxis is a severe and possibly fatal sudden reaction to the ingestion or injection of a substance to which the victim has become abnormally sensitive.

The mechanism is the same as that of an allergic reaction, but there is a virtual explosion of the reacting cells and consequent collapse, with failure of the circulation and swelling of the air passages.

The only treatment likely to help is an immediate injection of adrenaline.

The term allergy was coined in 1906 to describe the reactions which ensue when a person is exposed more than once to a foreign substance.

Allergic conditions include asthma, hay fever, and skin conditions such as urticaria and eczema.

Food intolerance is a condition related to specific foodstuffs.

It usually results in relatively mild reactions such as a stomach ache, headache or rash.

Most intolerances can be eased by a change of diet.

Updated: 10:23 Wednesday, June 29, 2005