An allergy is called an increased sensitivity of an organism to a substance. The manifestations of this disease are most often rash, swelling, rhinitis, asthma, eczema and even necrosis. Symptomatic treatment of allergies is usually carried out using hormonal drugs and antihistamines. However, with the use of such therapy, it is only possible to stop the actual manifestations of the disease. Allergy itself is not treated in this way. But medical technology, with which you can get rid of the disease itself, fortunately, still exists.
The use of allergen-specific therapy
As you know, in order to protect the body from infection by pathogenic viruses or bacteria, a method such as vaccination is used. Allergen-specific immunotherapy is somewhat similar to this particular technique. The patient is simply given microscopic doses of the substance, which causes a negative reaction in him. Allergen-specific therapy usually lasts a very long time - from several months.
During this time, the patientās body "gets used" to the action of the allergen. As a result, the patient goes through all the signs of the disease.
Indications for therapy
Such treatment is usually prescribed only to people from 5 to 50 years old. Before embarking on a therapy, the doctor must be fully convinced that the patientās disease is precisely immunological in nature.
An allergen-specific immunotherapy gives a very good effect in the following cases:
Also, this technique is highly effective in treating bronchial asthma and its accompanying diseases - cardiovascular, endocrine, gastroenterological and neurosis.
It can be treated using a technique such as allergen-specific immunotherapy and drug 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 with.
The exclusion of contact with an 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 manifest any symptoms. Therefore, allergen-specific treatment is usually prescribed only if it is impossible to exclude contact. For example, it would be advisable to apply a similar technique if the patient has an allergy to household dust, waste products of skin mites, etc.
What drugs can be used
Allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) is performed using:
Standardization, produced in Russia and used with such treatment as allergen-specific immunotherapy, drugs are based on the content of protein nitrogen (PNU) in them. For example, medications such as Staloral and Fostal can be used with ASIT.
How do drugs work?
Actually, the ASIT mechanisms themselves are diverse. It could be:
rearrangement of cytokine and immune metabolism;
production of blocking antibodies;
slowing down the mediator component of allergic inflammation;
decreased IgE production.
ASIT can inhibit both late and early stages of an immediate allergic reaction. Also, during such therapy, the cellular picture of inflammation and bronchial hyperactivity in asthma is inhibited.
How is the treatment
Allergen-specific immunotherapy can, of course, be prescribed and carried out only by a professional doctor (and only with relevant experience). It is impossible to use this technique on your own in any case. An error in the dosage of an allergy vaccine can even lead to the death of the patient.
The use of such immunotherapy is allowed only in the out of reach period of the disease. Previously, the patient must have eliminated inflammatory processes in the lungs and other foci of chronic infections.
Allergen-specific immunotherapy always begins with the smallest doses of the drug. Irritant substances are most often injected. Sometimes tablets or powder are also used for therapy. Subsequently, the dosage is 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. Injections should be done to patients using disposable insulin syringes. They are injected subcutaneously with immunotherapy.
What courses can be conducted
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 be classified only in the following types:
short course preseason;
full pre-season course;
year-round therapy.
You can also highlight the main phases of treatment by this technique:
Preparation . At this stage, the doctor carefully examines the patientās medical history and conducts an examination. Next, a causally 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.
Supporting 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 administering a dose of the drug, the patientās 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 not observing this important condition can be really very serious. Also, during the course of treatment, it is necessary to completely eliminate the additional effect of allergens on the patient's body.
Contraindications
It is strictly forbidden to carry out allergen-specific immunotherapy with:
pregnancy of the patient;
the presence of acute infectious processes in the patient;
the constant form of bronchial asthma of 2-3 degrees;
complications of the most allergic disease;
the presence of tumor pathologies;
mental illness in the acute stage;
high immunoglobulin E.
With caution, apply a similar technology to treat patients:
under the age of 5 and over 50;
having skin pathologies;
suffering from chronic infectious diseases;
with poor skin sensitivity to the allergen.
Side effects
Of course, when conducting such therapy, the patient may manifest various kinds of negative reactions of the body. Side effects when using allergen-specific treatment are as follows:
Redness of the skin and swelling at the injection site. This reaction usually occurs about half an hour after the administration of the drug. If there is a similar side effect, the dose of the allergen used should be reduced.
An increase in the patientās body temperature or skin rashes. Such reactions usually occur immediately after administration of the drug. In this case, the dosage is also usually reduced.
How effective can therapy be
At present, allergen-specific immunotherapy is the only treatment for allergies and bronchial asthma that directly affects the immunological nature of the disease. After completing the full course according to all the rules, patients usually experience prolonged remission. With allergic rhinitis and polynosis, such an effect gives an excellent effect to 90% of patients. It was also noted that the best results in terms of treatment with the use of ASIT can be achieved in young patients.
A pronounced clinical effect in patients usually manifests itself only after 3-5 courses of ASIT. But the improvements are noticeable most often after the first of them. The reaction of the patient to irritants becomes less pronounced.
Allergen-specific immunotherapy: the price issue
The cost of treatment according to the ASIT technique depends primarily on the type of stimulus causing the reaction. A doctor's examination of the corresponding specialization usually costs about 900 rubles. For treatment for allergies to pollen of trees and cereals from a patient, for example, from 6 to 12 thousand rubles can be taken, for mites of house dust - from 8 to 14.5 thousand rubles.
Allergen-specific immunotherapy: patient reviews
The opinion of this technology of treatment in the patients themselves was very good. Some patients consider ASIT to be the only effective treatment for allergies. After the course, many patients, according to them, finally begin to "live life to the fullest." This technique is praised by both patients with rhinitis and 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.