Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Observations Only Connect

This allergies hysteria is just nuts

BMJ 2008; 337 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a2880 (Published 10 December 2008) Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2880

Rapid Response:

A voice of common sense

Last week I asked an airline stewardess if I could have a bag of
peanuts to accompany my pre-meal drink. "No" she replied, " there's
someone on the plane with a nut allergy so we're not serving them to
anyone".

Our thanks are due to Prof Christakis for his blast of common sense
on this issue. For some years I have struggled, as a simple surgeon, to
understand the scientific background behind the multiplication in
incidence of an allergy which has spread through the Western world with
the ease of a contagious disease. Immunologists, too, have been remarkably
reticent in providing us explanations. But everything Prof Christakis says
makes sense although his rationale will be difficult, like the nuts they
shelter us from, for politically correct folk to swallow.

Competing interests:
Nut lover

Competing interests: No competing interests

11 December 2008
peter j mahaffey
consultant surgeon
bedford hospital mk42 9dj