Man is allergic to his wife

Darren Young is itching to get on with his love life - but he's allergic to his wife. Darren, 45, risks breaking out in blotches and sending his heart rate haywire if he touches her when she is wearing creams and lotions.

His body is likely to swell up alarmingly and his heart could even stop beating if he comes into contact with large enough amounts of a chemical used in many common cosmetics.

Doctors discovered the allergy when Darren had a dangerous reaction to a steroid injection in hospital. He is one of only three recorded cases in the world.



Now he dare not cuddle up to Sue, his wife of four years, unless he is sure she is not wearing any creams containing polyethylene glycol.

Bus driver Darren, of Sprotbrough, South Yorks, joked: "When it comes to bedtime Sue doesn't need a headache as an excuse. She just says she has been using body lotion and it might kill me."

The dad of two added: "It's not just Sue - I can get a reaction if I go into a pub or a restaurant where a woman has been sitting. The doctors don't really know why it has suddenly happened."