Introduction
"Allergy" shots have been used for many years in the treatment of regular inhalant allergies. They have stood the test of time and have proven very useful in the management of inhalant allergies (to dust, molds, animal dander and pollens).
Their efficacy is well established but there are drawbacks with this procedure. These include the fact that the shots have to be given weekly for a long time, they can cause nasty local reactions and occasionally have led to life threatening anaphylaxis and even death. Also, they are not effective in managing food and chemical sensitivities and therefore their use is restricted to only a limited number of medical conditions such as allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis and bronchial asthma.
However over the last 25 years, a new form of immunotherapy has evolved. This procedure is not only effective for the above standard allergic conditions but also for food and chemical sensitivities. Also, much lower concentrations of allergy antigens are used, and the frequency of these shots is only once every 2 to 3 months initially. In fact for simple dust and hay fever problems, only 2 shots a year are required to desensitize the patient.
This technique has also opened up a new way of treating chronic conditions which are known to be food "allergy" driven, such as irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, migraine, hives and attention deficit disorder/hyperkinesis in children. Also, bacterial and fungal allergies can be effectively treated with this form of low dose immunotherapy. These can be seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Even certain forms of epilepsy and autoimmune disease can be managed with this technique.
What is this low dose immunotherapy?
It is known as enzyme potentiated desensitization or E.P.D. This technique uses an enzyme called B-glucuronidase as an immune modulating chemical substance which is added to the antigen mix at the time of administration of the treatment.
B-glucuronidase is present normally in the white blood cells of the body and during inflammation or allergy reactions. This substance is released by these cells as part of the normal immune response and actually increases the immunity to the antigen being attacked.
B-glucuronidase is a natural biological response modifier and it can be used to either increase or decrease the immune response to an antigen or antigens depending on the concentration of antigen/s present, the concentration of B-glucuronidase at the exposed site and the amount of simple sugars present also.
E.P.D exploits this activity to modify specific hypersensitivity. This is achieved by: the presence of very low precise dose of a specific sugar and the presence of low or ultra low precise doses of specific antigens.
In fact E.P.D uses a natural pathway of immune modulation at a strength less than what usually occurs in nature.
The use of E.P.D. has been researched, defined and pioneered by Dr. Len McEwan, a medical doctor and immunologist in England. It is not alternative medicine but a very effective and safe way of treating many different types of allergy and is now gaining more acceptance as a way of handling the allergic patient.
