Allergy: the epidemic of modern life

Over the last 30 years, the number of people suffering with hay fever has trebled. In fact, the number of people with allergies generally has risen dramatically in the UK.

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Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge houses one of only six specialist allergy clinics in the country. Dr Pam Ewan is a consultant allergist who heads the centre. She says there is now a diverse range of allergies. "We’ve got a huge groundswell of tendency to allergy manifesting in different ways – whether it’s hay fever, asthma or fruit allergy, all are actually causing quite a burden of disease amongst patients."

With this increase has come a growing demand for specialist services.

Dr Ewan says 7,000 people visit the clinic every year, all of whom suffer badly with allergies, including hay fever, "we see patients who literally sneeze non-stop, sneeze, sneeze. They have a very watery discharge, their noses stream and some people go around with towels because their noses are pouring so much."

There’s concern amongst those in this sector that great pressure is being put on limited services. With more and more people now living with allergies, the services already available simply aren’t sufficient to cope.

"It’s a huge problem in the UK – we have fantastically good research into allergy and we have an absolutely hopeless NHS service in allergy. We’ve got doctors who don’t get much teaching in allergy. In fact, many GP’s have had no teaching in allergy. So the service is poor."

Dr Ewan and other allergy specialists are calling for more funding for a service which is under huge pressure and struggling to cope with demand.