Responding to the age-old hatred of needles, local pharmaceutical company develops pain free allergy treatment regimen for Canadians.
Sublingual immunotherapy has been available since 1993 in Europe, and is the most widely prescribed allergy treatment in Europe today. In America, over 300 000 allergy patients use sublingual (under the tongue) allergy treatment to tackle allergies. Allergy shots, until recently, were the only therapy available which changes the underlying problem of allergies. Until this year, sublingual immunotherapy, or allergy drops, were not widely available in Canada. Western Allergy Services, a Victoria BC company is the first to offer sublingual immunotherapy over-the-counter in North America.
Dan Sharp, Managing Director of Western Allergy Services notes that traditional Allergy treatment consists of a 6 to 8 week allergy shot build up regimen followed by 3 to 5 years of monthly allergy shots. Today’
Sublingual immunotherapy, which has over 60 double blind placebo controlled clinical trials to back up its efficacy, may well be the treatment that offers an alternative to the over 80% drop out rate of traditional allergy shots. The allergy sufferer can administer the treatment at home with no more shots or long waits at the doctors office.
Allergy runs in families and is especially common in children born to allergic mothers. The ‘allergic march’ usually begins with allergies and asthma in infancy and is soon followed by eczema. Studies show that the early treatment of allergies can lessen or prevent adult allergies all together.
Western Allergy Services was founded in 1971 to provide allergy doctors and patients with diagnostic and treatment for allergies. In October of 2008, Western Allergy Services sold the traditional immunotherapy injection division to concentrate their efforts on sublingual allergy drops. Pollenguard is the only sublingual immunotherapy drop available over the counter in North America.
If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Dan Sharp, please call Genevieve Grant at 250 383 6638 or email genevieve@westernallergy.com
