What Doctors Don't Tell YouAn estimated one third of those regularly exposed to latex commonly used in medicine for surgical gloves, urinary catheters, etc develop severe latex allergies.
Reactions include skin redness, inflammation of the eyes, nose and/or respiratory tract, and in some cases, death.
In a study at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation researchers linked reactions that occurred during surgery, including anaphylactic shock, to latex allergy (Townsend Letter for Doctors, July 1997).
See WDDTY vol 8 no 2 for details of latex allergy.
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
