What is "immunotherapy"?

What is "immunotherapy"?

Harold Kaiser (Practicing Allergist and Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School) gives expert video advice on: What kind of medications are used to treat allergies?; Does using an EpiPen hurt? and more...

Immunotherapy is a fancy word for allergy injections. Let me explain what allergy injections are, and what they do. A substance to which the allergic patient is prepared. Think ragweed, or grass pollen, or cat dander, or house dust mites. The substance is prepared, and again this is, we know how to do this and there are pharmacy companies who make these substances, and the patient is then started on a series of injections. Initially weekly, then every other week, then every three, and then every four, sometimes even longer. And gradually over time you can have three expectations from allergy injections. Number one, the symptoms will improve, the nasal congestion, the sneezing, the coughing and wheezing. Number two, the medication will work better on you. In other words, the medicine will work the same but essentially the body will be more responsive to the medicine. The body will be working better. Thirdly and equally important, especially in a young person, is that instead of going downhill and developing ongoing and progressive troubles, immunotherapy or allergy injections will prevent the further development of troubles in a certain percentage of patients.