07.02.11
More questions than answers after peanut allergy survey
A study into peanut allergies has found a much greater incidence among better-off children, and stark gender differences.
Scientists at Edinburgh and Maastricht universities studied records from more than 400 GP practices in England from the four years to 2005 for peanut allergy diagnosis data.
The study, in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, says the rate per 1,000 patients was far higher among the affluent, at 0.70, compared to the poorest group at just 0.36.
Co-author of the DoH study, Dr Colin Simpson, said that while wealthy families were more likely to be taken to the doctor in the first place , the figures are for ‘true’ allergy diagnosis so could suggest a genuine difference between social classes. Others have suggested the ‘inequality of access’ to healthcare between the richest and poorest could be skewing the data.
The study also shows that more boys are diagnosed than girls, but as children age, the gender gap lessens then reverses, so that by age 24 more women than men were being diagnosed with a peanut allergy.
Dr Simpson said the reason for this was unclear, saying: “There could be a link to the sex hormones, but we don’t know for sure. The fact that at puberty there is a change could point to a link, but we need to do more work.”
Because the study is based on GPs’ data, it suggests a much lower incidence of peanut allergy than previous studies. Some of the discrepancy could be because GPs classify some people with a general ‘food allergy’ rather than a specific peanut allergy.
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