Over the last few months my fiancée has been suffering with a lot of allergy problems. As a result, she had a 5 day stay in hospital at the beginning of December, and now has to carry an epi-pen, some oral medicine and a letter explaining what to do in an emergency, at all times.

She has not been truly well since the middle of November, and occasionally has outbreaks: usually just hives on her skin, but sometimes also swollen lips. She had an attack with a swollen lip just a few days ago, and went to a pharmacy to get more medicine. She looked so bad that the pharmacist recommended she go to the hospital, which she didn't want to do for fear they would keep her in for another 5 day stay. Instead, she went to a doctor with a consulting room opposite the pharmacy, recommended by the pharmacist.

The doctor was a very sympathetic lady; it was just a shame that she was so stupid and ignorant. Her only recommendation for allergy problems was some herbal supplements to boost Sheryl's immune system. There are two problems with that suggestion: recent research shows that so-called immune boosters don't work, but if they did, that is the exact opposite of what a person with allergy problems needs. Allergies are the result of your immune system attacking otherwise harmless substances (food, skin products, cleaning products, etc.) as if they were harmful invading organisms, and boosting the immune system will only make the problem worse. This web-page suggests some treatments for allergies and, unsurprisingly, immune boosters do not feature,

I sometimes wonder how some medical practitioners get licences to practice, and how they manage to keep their licences.