Forty million to 50 million Americans suffer from some sort of allergy, according to a recent report from Harvard Medical School. Most medications — nasal sprays, antihistamines and the like — only treat the symptoms, not the underlying sensitivity.
The only way to diminish allergy is through immunotherapy. Allergists typically provide injections, starting with a tiny bit of what bothers the patient and slowly ramping up to larger amounts.
Immunotherapy does not exactly provide a "cure," but it can greatly reduce annoying symptoms. For example, many people can't stand more than five minutes in a house with a cat. After immunotherapy, they frequently report they can spend the night in a feline-occupied home. That's not to say they're necessarily ready to adopt several kittens for their own abode; it just means they'll need fewer tissues and less Benadryl when Fluffy is nearby.
"Nothing works 100% on everybody," says Dr. Michael Blaiss, an allergist at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. He estimates that 4 in 5 people who get allergy shots reap the benefit.
Reference information: http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-allergies-immunotherapy-20100802,0,7205621.story
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