HEALTH NOTES: Peanut patch foils toddlers' allergies trends now

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A 'peanut plaster' could save toddlers from severe allergic reactions, US research has shown.

The patch on the child's back, which exposes them to peanut protein in a bid to desensitise their immune systems, can reduce the frequency and severity of attacks in two thirds of peanut allergy cases.

This therapy is available in the UK for children aged over four, but The Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute in Chicago has found a remedy for those even younger. Dr Melanie Makhija, a researcher for the study, described the findings as 'terrific news'.

'Children who originally reacted to a small fraction of a peanut were able to tolerate the equivalent of one to four peanuts,' she added.

'We found the peanut patch was safe with very low chances of a severe allergic reaction.'

A simple genetic test could be used to diagnose hard-to-spot cases of high blood pressure.

For about one in 20 patients their blood pressure is dangerously high only at certain times – so it often goes unnoticed.

Scientists at Queen Mary University and St Bartholomew's Hospital in London have identified a DNA mutation that causes the

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