One of the questions that has yet to be answered is why, in this day and age, are there so many food intolerances and allergies when, in previous years (so it would seem) they were rare? I don't recall such things when I was young - or even in my thirties and forties.

There may be many answers because these things in most cases are not imaginary. My eldest grandchild - now aged 9 - was eating a chocolate brownie in a café about 3 or 4 years ago and suddenly became extremely ill - vomiting, headache, temperature. Off he went to hospital to discover that he has a nut allergy - walnuts in particular - and he'd had an anaphylactic shock. Not an imaginary shock.

So, might some answers be:

1. This things have always been with us but were, in the past, unrecognised.

2. Modern food production methods, with chemical pesticides and additives, create modern allergies.

3. Genetic changes in foodstuffs and us, over years, produce intolerances to certain food.

I don't know the answer - but I do know that my wife had a slight irritable bowel which was very annoying. A nutritionist then discussed foods with her - particularly ones which ferment and cause bloating - and, since avoiding these, she's been much better.

I do not think these conditions are imagined, except perhaps here and there.