Eczema: the best book inthe world bar none is DJ Atherton, Eczema in
Childhood: the Facts. Oxford UNiverstioy Press, 1995, A$22.95 or around §10
sterling. Anyone interested: get a copy. Fully detailed, absolutely
practical, integrating food allergy with all the other factors,
breastfeeding promoted... the answeer to the dimwit doctors who still think
diet has nothing to do with it. Apologies to the bright ones: there are
dimwit LCs too, don't take offence, please.. Atherton is from Great Ormond
Street, world-renowned UK paediatric institution.

Also, all soy and milk-based hypo-allegenics such as Nutramigen cause major
allergy in many children. There is an elemental formula, Neocate, available
in which the protein is made up of amino acids not from any food source:
much better results. Ditto when they feed it to breastfeeding women on
inadequate diets because of food restriction. There would be a US
equivalent product, I'm sure. Nutramigen sales are dropping rapidly in
Australia, or so I hear. And so are sales of Mead Johnson's so-called Human
Milk Fortifier, laden with cows milk (best thing about it was the name:
most nurses had no idea it was cows milk). It is being replaced by a
cheaper, less allergenic product (but still allergenic). And fewer places
are fortifying with bovine products at all now they have realised it is yet
another uncontrolled experiment.

And don't forget the LCPUFAs. long-chain polyunsaturated essential fatty
acids can make a huge difference to eczema and to mother's mood and immune
function. Go read about this. Medline can be searched free via MedPulse. I
must switch off: have to teach a 5-hour course on allergy tomorrow.

Maureen