Memorandum by Dr Jean Monro, Medical Director,
Breakspear Hospital
INTRODUCTION
I am the Medical Director of the Breakspear
Hospital, which is a private day hospital that treats patients
for allergy and environmental sensitivities, run by the Breakspear
Medical Group. We have treated over 14,000 patients since 1982.
The precepts of environmental medicine include
detailed attention to sources of exposure to potential trigger
substances, individual assessment of nutritional status, and the
reduction of the total burden of physical, chemical and biological
stressors, using specialised techniques. A holistic approach to
treatment, the avoidance of drug therapy where possible, dietary
amendment and supplementation, specialised elimination diet and
challenge protocols, measurement and correction of environmentally
triggered alterations in gut permeability and intestinal flora,
use of proven methods of detoxification, measurement of specific
biochemical pathways, and a low-dose desensitising technique are
all integral to the approach adopted at the Breakspear Hospital.
Your call for evidence requires answers on different
categories, as follows:
DEFINING THE
PROBLEM
(b) Also annotated is an explanation of what
is known as "the load phenomenon".
(c) The effects of ongoing allergy/sensitivity
damage are discussed.
(d) The means of assessment by challenge,
elimination and rotation diets.
(e) The phenomena of bipolarity and addiction
are addressed.
In my opinion, the incidence of allergy is rising
because of a concomitant exposure of individuals to environmental
chemicals: indoor and outdoor pollutants, drugs, and food contaminants.
These can all be part of a provoking total load, which aggravates
encounters with natural agents. No consideration of this is normally
undertaken by medical professionals.
TREATMENT AND
MANAGEMENT
Food allergy: This is traditionally treated
by avoidance. However, low-dose immunotherapy has been shown to
be extremely effective. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) has an
extensive reference base.
Chemical sensitivity: An increasing number
of people report adverse effects from exposure to everyday amounts
of common chemicals, for example perfume, paint, car exhaust fumes,
which are tolerated by most people. The condition may develop
after exposure to a large amount of a single chemical, or a low-level
exposure to single or multiple agents. This is not acute toxicity,
but is chemical sensitivity disorder. People afflicted often also
develop adverse reactions to foods and inhaled particles.
Biochemical individuality: Genomic variations
result in different responses to foods, drugs and other agents,
and must be considered.
TREATMENTS
— Low-dose immunotherapy.
— Identification of possible infectious
agents.
These should all be pursued.
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
The Paris Appeal has now been signed by many
international scientific key figures and by the Standing Committee
of European Doctors, which represents all medical governing bodies
and medical organisations in the 25 EU Member States. [6]
Amongst their nine principal recommendations
are "the creation of a new medical specialty: environmental
medicine".
Chapter 5 relates to Obesity, Cancers and Allergies.
Item R41 is entitled Allergy management. This stresses "...
recognition of allergology as a medical speciality in the framework
of environmental medicine".
Section M163 states "Given the frequency
and growing incidence of allergies, the complexity of etiological
mechanisms, and the great number of diseases to treat specifically,
the European Union and the Member States must contribute to acknowledging
allergology as a fully-fledged medical specialty."
PATIENT AND
CONSUMER ISSUES
Patients attending the Breakspear Hospital have
often expressed the benefits of treatment offered to them here.
We have undertaken market research surveys and an independent
audit of patient satisfaction questionnaires, which have established
the benefits.
6 Memorandum of the Paris Appeal-Environment and sustainable
health; 9 November 2006, UNESCO, Paris. Back
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