This article caught my eye seeing how not to long ago in class we were talking about allergies. Researchers have found two new drugs that could help people who struggle with the two of the most popular allergies, dust mites and grasses. The treatment being used is called "synthetic peptide immune-regulatory epitopes" or SPIREs. Right now the treatment is in its second stage of clinical trails and is showing promise. If this new treatment proves to help keep people from suffering from allergies many people would be able to live a lot more comfortably. When I was younger I suffered from allergies (dust mites to be exact) and I know I would have loved to have a treatment like this to stop the constant sneezing and itchy eyes.
Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131003111117.htm
So is it a pill or more like a breathing treatment?
ReplyDeleteSo there is some speculation of a correlation between helminths and allergies. Do you think by decreasing the occurence of both, we will develop an even worse immune response to something else? Maybe an increase in autoimmune infections?
ReplyDeleteIt took me awhile to research the web to figure out what this treatment is...not fun...anyway, normally when a person undergoes allergy immunotherapy they will be injected (typically) with extracts of the allergens. This is a long course of building tolerance or desensitizing the person to the allergen. I guess using the allergen extract can cause adverse reactions (you still have an allergic response). The use of synthetic peptide immune-regulatory epitopes is basically using small peptides derived from the allergens. These are too small to cause IgE immune complexes (thus reducing degranulation of eosinophils/basophils) and thereby lowering the typical side effects of immunotherapy. Also, this treatment utilizes a shorter course of injections, which makes the treatment even more tolerable to patients.
ReplyDeleteIf this is so, then what is the purpose of the other allergen medicines such as Claratin, Benadryl, and Allegra for? Will this cause these over the counter medicines to be obsolete?
ReplyDeleteQuincy: A little more information is needed! Your commentariat is doing a better job communicating how this works than you have.
ReplyDelete