Diet 'key factor in glue ear'

(First Edition)

ONE-THIRD of children who suffer from a common ear problem could be spared surgery if they switched to a milk-free diet, an allergy expert claims today, writes Celia Hall.

'Research has shown that about one-third of all children's glue ear cases can be cleared up by a milk- free diet instead of fitting grommets,' according to Dr Michael Tettenborn, who was speaking before the start, tomorrow, of an international symposium on food and the environment in human disease.

Dr Tettenborn, a Sussex NHS paediatrician, says that 'thousands of adults' with irritable bowel syndrome waiting for colonoscopy, an internal examination of the colon, could also have their symptoms alleviated with a modified diet.

'A great deal of pressure could be taken off the NHS by a more ecological and holistic approach to patient care,' he said. 'Rheumatoid arthritis also responds well to changes in the diet and hyperactive children can become calm and concentrate.'

The British Society for Allergy and Environmental Medicine and the British Society for Nutritional Medicine have produced a report aimed at doctors. Effective Allergy Practice says that more than 20 per cent of the popoulation is allergic.

Effective Allergy Practice; PO Box 28, Totton, Southampton SO40 2ZA; price pounds 5 inc p&p.