newspaper article
The NHS standards watchdog (NICE) say there is no evidence to support "alternative" tests to which many parents have turned in desperation, after their GPs failed to help.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)'s first guidance on children's food allergies will say GPs need to act much more quickly to investigate common childhood complaints which could be triggered by diet.
The watchdog describes a 500 per cent increase in hospital admissions for food allergies in the UK since 1990. Its guidelines will cite research showing that up to 8 per cent of children under the age of three now suffer from some kind of food complaint.
While immediate allergies can be shown by blood or skin prick tests, establishing a delayed allergic reaction is much more difficult.
NICE will say "alternative" tests such as hair analysis, kinesiology, which measures muscle strength as a person lies next to a suspected allergen, and "vega" tests which measure electrical activity should not be used. The guidelines will also warn against the use of 'IgG' antibody tests promoted by commercial firms in clinics and via the internet.
Experts who drew up the guidelines said desperate parents turned to such methods because they appeared to offer certainty in diagnosing delayed reactions to food, when the NHS could only offer "a slow and laborious process" of eliminating foods one by one until the culprit was identified.
The draft guidelines, being published for consultation, will say GPs need to start such investigations sooner, and that the "alternative" tests being offered for delayed reactions should not be used.
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