Allergy Immunotherapy with Depigmented Glutaraldehyde-Polymerized Extracts

Allergy Immunotherapy
Allergic rhinitis is a very common problem associated with poor quality of life, reductions in social and work activities and poor interpersonal relationships. The main goal of the management of allergic rhinitis is to improve the quality of life. Immunotherapy is a specific therapy for allergic rhinitis and several reports have documented the safety and efficacy of this treatment . Safety has been a key issue in immunotherapy and various modalities are being investigated to make allergy immunotherapy more tolerable and safe to administer. (more…)

Systemic Allergic Reactions: Causes, Reaction, and Treatment

Systemic Allergic Reactions
Systemic allergic reactions are a relatively common clinical emergency. In their mildest form, they may just manifest as systemic cutaneous reactions with pruritis, allergy urticaria and angioedema. In more severe cases there are cardiorespiratory symptoms such as stridor, wheeze, difficulty in breathing or hypotension. Anaphylaxis has been defined as a ‘severe, life-threatening generalized or systemic hypersensitivity reaction’. The prevalence of systemic allergic reactions is unclear because of the lack of a clear, consistent definition and large prospective population studies. (more…)

Non-Allergic Rhinitis – Causes and Treatments

Non-Allergic Rhinitis Treatment
Non-allergic rhinitis is defined by the absence of positive SPTs or radioallergosorbent test (RAST) to common allergens. Ideally, it should include a negative response to likely nasal allergen challenge since local nasal IgE synthesis has been demonstrated. In practice, the diagnosis is usually dependent on there being no offending allergen apparent from the clinical history. As advancing age is associated with reduced IgE levels and a reduced prevalence of positive SPTs, this may be a confounding factor when assigning rhinitics into atopic and non-atopic subgroups. Such age-related changes contribute to the fall in the apparent prevalence of allergy among persistent rhinitics from around 80% in childhood to below 20% in elderly people. Epidemiologic studies of a population of nearly 3000 patients in Tucson, Arizona, have shown that the prevalence of symptoms of allergic rhinitis is as high as 30% even in those with very low ageadjusted serum IgE scores. This emphasizes that there is a nonallergic subgroup to rhinitis. (more…)

Current Indications for Specific Immunotherapy

indications immunotherapy
It is now almost a century since the pioneering work of Noon and Freeman was used to successfully treat hay fever symptoms using a low-dose incremental schedule of pollen injections. Noon based his doses of pollen extract on a pollen weight unit that remained in use for over 70 years; (more…)

Allergen Extracts – Pollens, Dust Mites, Insects, Fungi, and Proteins

allergen extract
The allergen extracts used for diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases. In the process of fabricating of allergen extracts, it is important to apply the standards to address the variability nature of the materials. Other important consideration is to look for the way to reproduce and control the optimum safety and efficaciousness when used in clinics. (more…)