If you suffer from severe food allergies, you know how important it is to stay safe and avoid trigger foods. Even trace amounts of an allergen can cause anaphylaxis, which can be fatal if not treated promptly. While there’s no cure for food allergies at this time, immunotherapy may offer hope to those with life-threatening allergies. Here’s what you need to know about immunotherapy for food allergies to see if it could be the answer you’ve been looking for.
Introducing immunotherapy
Researchers have developed immunotherapy programs to help modify the immune system’s response to allergies. These include a wide range of options such as sublingual (under-the-tongue) and skin testing, injections with small doses of allergens and medication. Additionally, researchers are looking into oral immunotherapy which is being tested in clinical trials. OIT allows patients to slowly build up immunity over time by consuming small but increasing amounts of allergen. Clinical trials are currently underway in many countries worldwide and preliminary results show that food allergy immunotherapy has been effective in reducing symptoms of food allergies; however, more studies need to be done before it is available commercially.
How does it work?
For patients with food allergies, it can be difficult to avoid exposure to specific allergens. However, recently scientists have developed a promising new treatment option. It’s called immunotherapy and it involves administering a small amount of an allergen to help desensitize patients so they can overcome their sensitivity. In a typical advanced allergy and asthma care scenario, patients undergo allergy shots with periodic injections of small amounts of an allergen that they are allergic to over time. After several years of therapy, most patients can then tolerate larger and larger doses—making it possible for them to eat what they previously couldn’t safely.
When should you start?
Immunotherapy (IT) is a treatment option you should discuss with your doctor if you have allergies to specific foods. IT has been shown to work well in many people with allergies, and it may be an effective way to manage some food allergies. For many kids, IT can also be a good long-term solution—but it will take time and effort on your part, as well as that of your child’s doctor. It is also considered an effective PCN testing.
The bottom line
Immunotherapy for food allergies is a treatment method with a small but growing body of evidence behind it. In research studies, patients have responded favorably to immunotherapy and have shown improvement in quality of life. So far, more and more evidence suggests that as we learn more about what causes food allergies and how they affect patients’ immune systems, immunotherapy may be an important way to help reduce allergies by retraining our immune systems not to respond inappropriately to harmless substances. It’s unclear whether or not certain types of food allergy are better treated with specific types of immunotherapies, but so far most studies have only included one type (such as sublingual immunotherapy) at a time; future studies will likely look at combinations of treatments in order to get results even faster. Learn more at Advanced Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology Center.
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