Allergy is the hypersensitivity of the body to any substance. The most common manifestations of this disease are rash, edema, rhinitis, asthma, eczema, and even necrosis. Symptomatic treatment of allergies is usually carried out using hormonal agents and antihistamines. However, with the use of such therapy, one can only stop the actual manifestations of the disease. The allergy itself is not treated in this way. But medical technology that can also cure the disease itself, fortunately, does exist.
Use of allergen-specific therapy
As you know, in order to protect the body from infection with pathogenic viruses or bacteria, a method such as vaccination is used. Allergen-specific immunotherapy is somewhat similar to this technique. The patient is simply injected with microscopic doses of the substance that causes a negative reaction in him. Allergen-specific therapy usually lasts a very long time - from several months.
During this time, the patient's body, as it were, "gets used" toaction of the allergen. As a result, the patient passes all the signs of the disease.
Indications for therapy
This treatment is usually prescribed only for people from 5 to 50 years old. Before starting therapy, the doctor must be one hundred percent sure that the patient's disease is of an immunological nature.
Allergen-specific immunotherapy gives a very good effect in the following cases:
- for conjunctivitis and seasonal rhinitis;
- perennial rhinitis.
Also, this technique is highly effective in the treatment of bronchial asthma and related diseases - cardiovascular, endocrine, gastroenterological and neuroses.
Can be treated with techniques such as allergen-specific immunotherapy and drug-induced lupus. However, this technology is rarely used in this case. ASIT can be used for such a disease only when the drug causing the reaction is vital and there is nothing to replace it.
The exclusion of contact with the allergen allows you to prevent the development of negative symptoms, of course, much better than any therapy. In the absence of an irritant, the patient simply cannot show any symptoms. Therefore, allergen-specific treatment is usually prescribed only if contact cannot be excluded. For example, it would be appropriate to use such a technique if the patient is allergic to household dust, productsactivity of skin mites, etc.
What drugs can be used
Allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) is being carried out using:
- purified allergens;
- allergoids;
- other modified allergens.
Medications produced in Russia and used in treatments such as allergen-specific immunotherapy are standardized based on their protein nitrogen (PNU) content. For example, medicines such as Staloral and Fostal can be used for ASIT.
How drugs work
Actually, the ASIT mechanisms themselves are diverse. It could be:
- restructuring of cytokine and immune metabolism;
- production of blocking antibodies;
- slow down the mediator component of allergic inflammation;
- decrease in IgE production.
ASIT can inhibit both the late and early stages of an immediate allergic reaction. Also, during such therapy, the cellular pattern of inflammation and bronchial hyperactivity in asthma are suppressed.
How the treatment works
Allergen-specific immunotherapy can, of course, be prescribed and carried out only by a professional doctor (and only with relevant experience). Under no circumstances should this method be used alone. An error in the dosages of an allergy vaccine can even lead to the death of the patient.
Use such immunotherapy is allowed only in the non-attack period of the disease. The patient must first eliminate inflammation in the lungs and other foci of chronic infections.
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is always started with the smallest doses of the drug. Irritant substances are administered most often by injection. Sometimes tablets or powder are also used for therapy. Subsequently, dosages are gradually increased.
The frequency of administration of the drug in most cases is 2-3 times a week. The standard full course is 25-50 injections. Patients should be given injections using disposable insulin syringes. Immunotherapy injections are given subcutaneously.
Which courses can be offered
There are no standard treatment regimens for ASIT. Therapy is carried out by a doctor in accordance with the individual characteristics of the patient's body and the course of his illness. ASIT can only be classified into the following types:
- short course preseason;
- full pre-season course;
- year-round therapy.
You can also highlight the main phases of treatment using this technique:
- Preparation. At this stage, the doctor carefully examines the patient's medical history and conducts an examination. Next, the cause-dependent allergen and the degree of sensitivity of the body to it (using samples) are determined. Based on this, the desired drug and its dose are selected.
- Initiating phase. At this stage, the patient begins to administer the drug with a gradual increase in dose.
- Maintenance phase. This stage can last from 3 to 5 years. During this time, the patient regularly takes the prescribed drug and is under the most careful supervision of a doctor.
Special Instructions
After a dose of the drug, the patient's body, for obvious reasons, begins to experience a serious load. Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to give such injections to the patient simultaneously with any preventive vaccinations. The consequences of failure to comply with this important condition can be very serious indeed. Also, during the course of treatment, it is necessary to completely exclude additional exposure to allergens on the patient's body.
Contraindications
It is strictly forbidden to carry out allergen-specific immunotherapy for:
- pregnancy patient;
- the patient has acute infectious processes;
- permanent form of bronchial asthma 2-3 degree;
- complications of allergic disease itself;
- presence of tumor pathologies;
- mental illness in the acute stage;
- high levels of immunoglobulin E.
Carefully apply this technology to patients:
- under 5 and over 50;
- having skin pathologies;
- suffering from chronic infectious diseases;
- with poor skin sensitivity to the allergen.
Side effects
Of course, during such therapy, the patient may manifest various negative reactions of the body. Side effects when using allergen-specific treatments are:
- Redness of the skin and swelling at the injection site. Such a reaction usually occurs about half an hour after the administration of the drug. If there is such a side effect, the dose of the allergen used should be reduced.
- Increased body temperature of the patient or skin rashes. Such reactions usually appear immediately after drug administration. In this case, the dosages are also usually reduced.
How effective therapy can be
At the moment, allergen-specific immunotherapy is the only method of treating allergies and bronchial asthma that directly affects the immunological nature of the disease. After completing the full course in accordance with all the rules, patients usually experience a long-term remission. With allergic rhinitis and polynoses, such therapy gives an excellent effect for 90% of patients. It has also been observed that the best results in terms of treatment with ASIT can be achieved in young patients.
Pronounced clinical effect in patients usually appears only after3-5 ASIT courses. But improvements are most often noticeable after the first of them. The reaction of the patient's body to stimuli becomes less pronounced.
Allergen-specific immunotherapy: the price of the issue
The cost of ASIT treatment depends primarily on the type of irritant causing the reaction. An examination by a doctor of the relevant speci alty usually costs about 900 rubles. For treatment for allergies to pollen from trees and cereals, a patient can be charged, for example, from 6 to 12 thousand rubles, for house dust mites - from 8 to 14.5 thousand rubles.
Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy: Patient Testimonials
The patients themselves have a very good opinion about this treatment technology. Some patients consider ASIT to be the only effective treatment for allergies. After the course, many patients, according to them, finally begin to "live a full life." This technique is praised by patients with rhinitis, Quincke's edema, and other manifestations of allergies.
Sometimes it happens that the technique does not help the patient. But in any case, as many patients note, it almost never does harm. It is considered some disadvantage of such a technique as allergen-specific immunotherapy, the cost of courses. Of course, not every patient can pay 12-14 thousand for treatment.
