More than one third of Canadians suffer from allergies. Some allergies are seasonal, for example trees, grasses, and weeds, while others including dust, cats and mould last year round.

Allergies are the result of an underlying immune hypersensitivity, which is the cause of the symptoms. When we treat only the symptoms, the cause remains, and the symptoms return as soon as the medication wears off. Clearly this approach only masks the problem, it doesn’t solve the problem.

The better approach is to address the cause of allergies, specifically addressing the immune, digestive, and lymphatic systems. This relieves the symptoms by removing the underlying cause.

There are a number of natural strategies to treat allergies without medication, and we use these regularly with our patients. The next step in the treatment of allergies is to stop the allergic mechanism and desensitize the body to the culprit allergens causing the allergies.

SLIT is a safe and effective treatment to diminish the symptoms of allergy by desensitizing the body to allergens in the environment.

The principles behind SLIT are similar to those of injection immunotherapy offered by allergists. By giving very small amounts of allergen to a patient, they will eventually develop a tolerance to that allergen, thereby eliminating the allergy. The difference is only that with SLIT, no injections are needed, only a drop under the tongue twice per day.

An enormous amount of research and clinical data has accumulated supporting the primary use of SLIT in the treatment of allergies, and it has been used by allergists in Europe for over 30 years because of its effectiveness, safety and convenience.

Identifying allergies in children is extremely important. Studies have shown that in children with allergies, asthma can be prevented with the use of SLIT. Because no injections are needed, SLIT is ideal for children, in addition to being safe, easy to administer and well tolerated.

See also Skin Testing