"We have 3 daughters (5, 4, and 10 months). About 6 months ago all of their skin looked really bad. This was also when our youngest had her "well visit" which included a heavy dose of vaccinations. She had some reactions to it, which is when I began to do some research to link food allergies and immunisations.

My older daughters have some severe food allergies/eczema, and asthma. Through much prayer I really believe that the Lord guided me to many different sites that showed me the ingredients that are in vaccinations and it really scared me. I also stumbled (very briefly) upon a website that suggested that leaky gut could come about because of vaccinations. I, at this point, didn't know very much about leaky gut, and put it on the back burner until yesterday when I discovered your site.

I was shocked at all of the information that I found out. My oldest is doing much better (although I believe that she may have a more mild case of leaky gut) but my middle child is doing rather poorly (so I am naturally more worried about her than the other two). I am scheduled to get some testing done (urine/stool/blood analysis, as well as some hair tests to test for toxic metals) to rule out some problems and hopefully diagnose her a bit better. I really don't know what she has. Her skin looks absolutely horrible. She has eczema on all of her extremities and she complains that her belly hurts often. She eats extremely healthy foods, probably than most of her counterparts, but I don't feel she is absorbing them as she should.

My baby is doing fine since I eliminated dairy and eggs from my diet (she is still breastfeeding--almost exclusively). A doctor (and some experienced moms) told me that breastfeeding exclusively for a year would help to eliminate the chance of developing food allergies so that her immune system can develop properly. This seems like an uphill battle for me. This issue has caused me to rely on my faith and not on my own abilities, which are truly insignificant compared to what God can do. I guess my question is: what is the most important test that can be done to give the best indication that my daughter has a leaky gut? I'd like to have this one done first so that we can get the ball rolling with her diet and such."

"Your three daughters aged five, four and ten months certainly need to be under the care of an Integrated Physician and to find somebody locally your best bet would be to contact The Faculty of Homoeopathy on 0870 444 3945, who can give you a list of doctors who are also homoeopaths.You could specifically contact Dr David Freed in Salford or Dr John Mansfield at the Burghwood Clinic in Surrey who are Integrated Physicians and specialise in allergies. Their details are as follows:The Burghwood Clinic Tel: 01737 361177.

Your specific question concerning leaky gut would be a PEG or Mannitol urine test which requires a six-hour collection which is possible on your five and four-year-old. The kit can be sent out to you by The Diagnostic Clinic with instructions and the results returned with a commentary and some basic advice.Your ten-month-old baby cannot be tested this way and there is no established method for individuals from whom a urine sample cannot be collected.

However, ongoing research into Live Blood Analysis suggests that the finding of large numbers of food particles in the bloodstream looked at under high-powered microscopy may be an indicator of the leaky gut.This would require your baby having a tiny pinprick of blood placed on a slide at a centre that performs Live Blood Analysis. Again, depending on where you are in the country you would need to choose by looking on the Internet as there is no particular association from which to obtain lists of practitioners/doctors utilising this test.

Again, The Diagnostic Clinic in Central London can offer you the service and a booking can be made on 020 7009 4650. If your baby is doing better since you eliminated dairy and eggs from your diet whilst breastfeeding then I dare say it has crossed your mind to eliminate these as best you can from your other children's diet. Specific practitioners can provide anti-fermentation diets that can be used in leaky guts where yeast or bad bacteria are considered to be contributory. Shea ointment is an extract from an African plant that seems to be useful in severe eczema and, to date, has not been reported as having any major side-effects but it is always important to get the blessing of your GP or dermatologist before trying anything and always stop if a problem appears to be getting worse......
Dr Rajendra Sharma."