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Respiratory Health

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Dorries. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage (Stephen McPartland) on securing this debate.

Our respiratory health can be affected by many different things. I want to talk about an aspect that we often do not consider: allergic reactions that affect our breathing and can lead to a fatality. I will tell hon. Members a story about the eating of peanuts. I was unaware of the effects of actions that we take for granted on people who suffer from a peanut allergy until I spoke to my constituent Natalie, and I want to share her story with Members today. In Natalie’s own words:

“The last time I went in to anaphylactic shock it took about 3-5 minutes to make itself known—with each reaction this time will get shorter”;

that is what she has been told.

“I had some warning signs first. I always get a spot on my lip and an itchy tongue, so we went to buy some Piriton and on our way back I went in to anaphylactic shock. First I was just coughing—very weak coughs—and I think that lasted for a few minutes though I am hazy on the whole night. Then what I call ‘phase two’ moved very quickly, it felt like there was a lump in my throat, which it probably was as I was told later that I had hives (Urticaria) on my windpipe and this is what causes anaphylaxis. ‘Phase three’ moved even faster. I had to sit on the pavement as I couldn’t walk any further and I was trying to take control of my breathing. We rang the ambulance somewhere around phase three—I didn’t have an epi-pen because we didn’t know I was anaphylactic—the ambulance arrived very quickly but I was really light-headed by the time they arrived, I couldn’t see anymore and everything was white. My chest was so tight and it was so difficult to get any air in…it feels like being crushed by an elephant and only being able to breathe through a tiny straw. The ambulance men helped me up and gave me the nebuliser like what they give to asthmatics and by the time we got to the hospital I was feeling much better.

If I did have an epi-pen it would have given me around 30 minutes before the ambulance arrived but the reaction can start up again after the adrenalin wears off.”

As a result of that incident, Natalie came to me with a suggestion that I hope the Minister will take on board. She told me that on many occasions she has been in a pub where there are peanuts on the bar or has walked past peanut vendors in the street, and although that does not send her into full anaphylaxis, it makes her chest very tight and she has to remove herself. Some people have suggested to her that she should take antihistamines, but with the amount of allergens around that would not be wise, as if she accidently comes in contact with allergens, any antihistamines she has taken would block the warning signs and give her much less time.

Street stalls vending peanuts and pubs providing peanuts for their customers are things we take for granted and assume are harmless. Many people do not realise that simply being near peanuts can have a devastating effect on someone’s health. Will the Minister join me in calling for wider education and publicity about the harmful effects that being near peanuts can have on some people’s respiratory health?

2.57 pm