New Allergy Treatments You Should Know About

24 February 2015
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When you suffer from allergies, you know how much of a struggle it can be just to get through your daily life without sniffling, sneezing, or coming into direct contact with a substance that you are allergic to. You make regular trips to the allergist for checkups and treatment updates, but allergies are not curable and are something you get to deal with on a daily basis for the rest of your life. However, this does not mean there isn't room for improvement. In fact, many strides are being made in the allergy treatment arena. So get to know some of these new treatments that you should be aware of. 

Grass Allergy Pills

One of the worst spring and summer allergies to have is a grass allergy. After all, you want to enjoy the nice warm weather just like anyone else. But going on picnics, playing baseball or soccer, or even going for a walk in the park can lead to sniffling, sneezing, and itchy, watery eyes that just make the whole experience unpleasant. 

While standard treatment previously was to take a daily oral antihistamine, and maybe get allergy shots to help build up immunity, today there is an immune therapy drug that is far easier to use and can be taken right in your own home. Doctors and researchers have actually developed a pill that can be taken to build up your immunity to grass pollen. 

This pill is taken over the course of several weeks starting right before the allergy season and contains small amounts of the grass pollen (just like an allergy shot). The goal of this medication is to help your immune system build up tolerance to these pollens, which in turn will drastically reduce your standard allergy symptoms. Because this treatment takes time to work in your system, make sure you start the treatment sooner rather than later to prevent symptoms in the upcoming allergy season. 

A Peanut Allergy Treatment (Finally!)

Peanut allergies are among the worst allergies to have. This is because the reaction can be so fast and so severe. Doctors have long been struggling to come up with a viable treatment option that can lessen the severity of peanut allergy reactions and keep patients from going into immediate anaphylactic shock. 

Doctors have begun administering a combination of a specific probiotic (known as Lactobacillus rhamnosus, a probiotic found in yogurt) with small amounts of peanut protein. This immunotherapy treatment is meant to desensitize the patient to their peanut allergy, and has been shown to be highly effective in the majority of patients thus far. This allergy treatment is still in trial phase but is showing tremendous promise. 

Unlike the grass allergy pill, however, this peanut allergy treatment cannot be taken in pill form at home. It is still an oral remedy, but must be closely supervised by a doctor. This is due to the fact that allergic reactions to peanuts can be life-threatening and the treatment does expose patients directly to peanut protein. 

As you can see, doctors are making strides in the ways that allergies are being treated. If you suffer from grass and/or peanut allergies, talk to your allergist to see if these treatments are right for you. And keep on the lookout for new treatments that may become available soon as doctors continue to try to help you feel better. Visit websites like http://www.drmarkmontgomery.com for more information.