• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Allergy Drops Might Make Injections Thing Of Past

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +
Apr 28, 2008 8:02 pm US/Mountain

Allergy Drops Might Make Injections Thing Of Past

Reporting
Kathy Walsh
DENVER (CBS4) ― How do you spell relief from allergies? It could be right near the tip of the tongue. A new study shows there may be a convenient alternative to those inconvenient allergy shots.

Joe Craighead suffers from bad allergies, especially in the spring, but he's now trying to combat the miserable condition with drops every day. He takes two drops under the tongue and holds for two minutes, then swallows.

"It's much better than getting a shot and also you can do it at home," Craighead said.

Craighead is taking part in a clinical trial at National Jewish Medical Center. Allergist Dr. Hal Nelson hopes to make immunotherapy a more attractive treatment.

"This would be a very good option if it works," Nelson said. "I think it would be a wonderful thing for a lot of people."

The drops are designed to work the same way as shots by gradually exposing the body to things like pollens to help build immunity. Allergy drops aren't new; they've been used for several years in Europe. All combat just one allergy, but folks in the U.S. tend to be sensitive to a number of things. So Nelson tests drops that cover 10 allergic conditions.

Craighead isn't sure if he's getting a treatment or a placebo, but he hopes eventually allergy drops will be nothing to sneeze at.

Nelson believes within three years, the Federal Drug Administration-approved allergy drops will be on the market for single allergies. His study, slated to end in July, will tell if drops for several allergies will be effective as well.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Weird News

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Local News

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.