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Low-dose Immunotherapy

Main Features

It is highly specific, a person is treated for things which are relevant and show reactivity in intra-cutaneous tests.
It is fast acting, people experience its benefits within a short time, usually a few weeks.
It is a medical method of desensitisation, only medically qualified specialists and trained nurses can use it.
It is an unconventional treatment of allergies, not available in NHS hospitals.
Neutralisation can treat both immediate and delayed allergies and many complex immune conditions.

Neutralisation is a method of desensitisation or immunotherapy, which blocks immune reactions to foods, inhalants such as hay fever, house dust mites, moulds, pollens, animal dander etc and environmental chemicals, i.e. volatile organic compounds, latex and others. It was developed by an American physician, Dr Hugh Carlton-Lee in the 1970's and was subsequently modified by Dr Joseph Miller.

These reactions are dose-related; that is, the immune system reacts to large or small doses of the offending substance, but somewhere in-between there is a fairly exact dose that is tolerated. This is known as the neutralising dose, or end-point. This dose often varies from person to person and is different for each substance to which a person is allergic or intolerant. In order to work out the correct neutralising dose for each substance, a series of tiny, painless injections are placed at the top of the arm, usually about 2 to 4 tests per substance tested. The testing solutions consist of a series of dilutions of the food, inhalant or chemical in normal saline. Glycerine is added to the concentrate to safeguard its allergenicity and therapeutic properties along with a very weak dose of benzyl-alcohol, which is added as preservative to prevent contamination. However, glycerine and preservatives are unnecessary for chemicals.

Most people do not get any symptoms from this type of testing but a few find that their normal symptoms are exacerbated or provoked during the procedure, e.g. headache, sniffles, tiredness or mild localised itching. Therefore, to begin with each food or substance is tested on its own.

Once the neutralising doses for a range of foods or environmental substances have been determined, they are combined into a vaccine. Up to 25 foods can be combined into a single vaccine, with inhalants and further foods in a separate vaccine if required. The vaccines are self-administered as a painless, subcutaneous injection used daily or every other day. One is taught how to do this. The vaccines can be prescribed on the NHS, if a person's GP is willing to do so. Each vial contains 50 doses and if used alternate days it will last about 3 months

Just a quick email to update Dr Econs about my Neutralisation. It's been a week, I do it twice a day as suggested, I know it's early and it sounds crazy, but I felt the benefits from Day 1. Today is Day 7 …my stomach pains, heartburn and tired feeling have disappeared and I feel like a new person.

C.M., Peterborough

Neutralisation works quite quickly, so its benefits are noticed within a few weeks. It is a very affordable method of desensitisation.

In most cases, one's end points remain stable and can be taken regularly over a period of time, often several years. However major stress, viral illnesses or surgery, can alter the neutralising doses in some people. In a few people the doses change from time to time for no obvious reason. In this case, the vaccines will not work effectively and may require rechecking.

Efficacy of the Method

Please refer to the end of this section for details of clinical trials using Neutralisation. In our Clinics, response varies between excellent, in simple allergies such as pollen or dust mites and food intolerance, to poor in some very complex immune syndromes.

Duration of Treatment

If neutralisation proves effective, it is recommended to continue for a minimum of two years in pure inhalant allergy and for three years in more difficult conditions, such as chronic fatigue syndromes, severe IBS, atopic eczema and so on. Even so, neutralisation is not an all-out cure, some patients may remain symptom-free for several years but some relapse weeks, months or years after phasing out the treatment. However, similar benefits are expected after re-testing of the endpoints.

Safety

Given that the strongest dose used for testing is 1/100 or weaker of the undiluted allergen, safety is very high. Neutralisation has never caused a severe or life-threatening reaction and has been used to treat an estimated 30,000,000 people in some Western countries during the last forty years. It is fundamentally different from conventional desensitisation or immunotherapy, which has been associated with rare but severe reactions. It should be noted that End-point Titration is a time-consuming method and requires the input of nurses or doctors specially trained to carry out the necessary skin tests for it. It is available in both our Keighley, Yorkshire and Banstead clinics.

Clinical Trials re: Neutralisation/Desensitisation to Food and Inhalant Sensitivities

The following is a sample of papers to give a flavour of some of the evidence to support the view that allergy, environmental medicine and nutritional medicine have a major role to play in modern medical practice.

Double-Blind Study of Food Extract Injection Therapy
Miller J.B. Annals of Allergy March 1977: 38; pp185-192. A double-blind cross-over study. In most cases the response if lifelong severe intractable symptoms was rapid and dramatic (within 3 - 4 days). Symptoms returned within 3 of the 4 days on placebo injections. View article

Elimination of Oral Challenge Reaction with Patients by Injection of Food Extracts
A Double-Blind Evaluation. Rea W.J. et al. Archives of Otolaryngology April 1984: Vol 110; pp248-252. The phenomenon of Subcutaneous Food Neutralisation can be scientifically endorsed for the clinical treatment of food reactions. View article

Low Dosage Sublingual Therapy in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis Due to House Dust Mite
Scadding G. & Brostoff J. Department of Immunology, Middlesex Hospital. Clinical Allergy 1986: Vol 16; pp483-491. View article

Provocation – Neutralisation: A Two-Part Study
Part I - The Intracutaneous Provocative Food Test: A Multi-Center Comparison Study. King W. et al. Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Sept. 1988: Vol 99 no.3 pp263-71. View article

Part II - The Subcutaneous Neutralisation Therapy: A Multi-Center Comparison Study. King W. et al. Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Sept. 1988: Vol 99 no.3; pp263-71.

Triple-blind studies provide evidence that subcutaneous neutralisation treatment is an effective form of food hypersensitivity therapy. These two studies led by the American Academy of Otolarynigic Allergy recommend neutralisation as the treatment of choice of Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists treating Rhinitis. Some ENT surgeons in the USA now use neutralisation as the preferred choice for perennial rhinitis.