Allergen immunotherapy: historical perspective and current status. The first annual SWAF Dora Bastiani Redmon Memorial Foundation Lectureship.
There was a time when there was no way of managing allergic diseases except by avoidance of allergens. Avoidance could not be effectively managed against some aeroallergens such as pollens, mold spores, and house dust. Allergists, particularly in the United States, began to use injection therapy and the treatment evolved to modern methodology for allergen immunotherapy (IT). As new treatments for allergy appeared, including H1 blockers and topical corticosteroids, many allergists thought there was no future for IT. However, IT has persisted and efficacy has been proven. Allergen IT remains a valuable therapy for allergic rhinitis and prevention of asthma. The true allergic asthmatic will often have chest symptoms improve with IT. Allergen IT can prevent the development of asthma in children with allergic rhinitis. Multiseasonal allergic rhinitis in a young person can require years of symptomatic therapy that is costly, tedious, and results in control but no alteration of the course of the allergic disease. Our approach should be proper education of the appropriate use of IT.
Patterson
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Division of Allergy-Immunology, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
D000485:Allergens / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy; D003888:Desensitization, Immunologic / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000628:therapy
D000485:Allergens