This website is intended for healthcare professionals only.

Hospital Healthcare Europe
Hospital Pharmacy Europe     Newsletter          

Immune therapy works, says German institute

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care has found that once controversial immune therapies used to treat allergy symptoms can definitely help many people with allergies, reports Medical News Today.

The Institute reviewed the latest independent analyses of allergy research to determine which treatments were effective, whether administered via injections or sublingually.

These treatments are proving popular, with more than a dozen being among the 3,000 most prescribed medicines in Germany.

Professor Peter Sawicki, director of the Institute, said: “Sublingual therapy in particular is becoming very popular in Europe. Research has shown that it can reduce allergic symptoms in adults and it causes less adverse reactions than injections.

“We are still not completely certain if it is as effective as injections, or whether it works for children. But many more trials are being done and we expect good answers to these questions soon.”

The study noted that the use of anti-histamines had dropped greatly in recent years. By examining the latest research on some of the most popular such treatments, found that they can all relieve symptoms, but commonly have side effects and variable symptom relief onset time.

Informed health online

x