Atopic allergy in chronic ulcerative colitis.

To the Editor: —Since treatment of chronic ulcerative colitis (CUC) advised inThe Journal( 181 :1020 [Sept 15] 1962) does not mention atopic allergy, we wish to emphasize its importance. For over 20 yr, with increasing frequency, Andresen and the writers have reported food allergy alone, with or without inhalant allergy, especially to pollens, to be the major cause, with drug allergy the occasional cause. The localization and spreading of the lesions in the colon and also the remissions are similar to those observed in atopic eczema. The erythema, bleeding, ulcerations, and formation of scar tissue can be explained as being caused by vascular allergy. Our routine methods of study and treatment are as follows: (1) The possibility of food allergy must be studied in all cases except when symptoms occur only during pollen seasons. Milk allergy may be the sole cause, but more frequently there are accompanying allergies to