When you or your child are diagnosed with an allergy, you probably walk our of the doctor’s office with a prescription for an allergy medication. When you have an allergy reaction, you’re instructed to take the medication to treat the reaction. What if instead of treating the reaction, we treat the source: the body’s reaction to the allergen. Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) revolves around the idea that the body be trained not to be allergic to specific foods or substances.
Allergies are common in the majority of people, so it’s no surprise when you learn that someone you know is allergic to a specific food or medication. Over the counter medications are typically administered to treat the condition and flair ups. Isn’t this, in a sense, accepting the allergy as a life-sentence?
The most common treatment for allergies is avoidance. If someone is allergic to Penicillin, then they tell their doctor, and that medication isn’t prescribed and no reaction is present. Easy enough, right? But how about similarly common instances where the allergen is pollen, dust, or animals? With things that occur naturally like dust and pollen, it is very difficult to avoid these as they’re literally everywhere.
Sublingual immunotherapy is a treatment option in which a solution of drops, or tablets are placed under the tongue and absorbed into the immune system. There is also an injection method, however since the treatment needs to be taken several times a week, the under-tongue route is often more convenient as a medical professional needs to be present for injections.
The purpose of the therapy is not to treat the allergy itself, moreso to desensitize the body against allergens. It has the same idea as a flu shot; injecting the body with the flu so that the immune system knows how to fight it off. In the case of allergies, adverse reactions decrease as the body is desensitized.
Sublingual immunotherapy can be compared to the psychological “Exposure Treatment”, in which people who have phobias are exposed to small doses of whatever they fear in hopes that their tolerance is built up.
While over the counter medications are fine with treating the reaction itself, allergy immunotherapy is the only way in which the underlying problem can be addressed. Why just treat the reaction when you can reduce or eliminate the problem all together? When you have a toothache, you can take an over the counter medication to eliminate the pain, but the best thing to do is to treat the problem, what’s causing the ache?
What does this mean for Autism?
Food allergies are something that are often mentioned with cases of Autism. Specifically gluten and casein, both of which we’ve discussed several times here at New Autism Cure. A healthy diet is suggested, vitamin supplements are suggested, both which focus on fixing the problem [with the gut symptoms], rather than just treating it. Immunotherapy takes the same approach. Rather than focusing on medications and the newest big thing, it’s important that Autism is something that needs to be treated. The symptoms need to be treated, and not just masked by a daily dose of whatever medication is being prescribed.
15 Comments
i think hypersensitivity to casien and glutin proteins.our prophet moh’d sallalla hu alaivasalam tell as cucumber is useful for such cases, and coming more good results with this type of autism cases.
Thanking you,
DR.Samer
I need some clue as to how to get a 3year old moderately austic child to eat…period.
He will eat rice almond cereal…left over from rice almond milk…very few fresh fruits and not much
else. He wants junk food. Potato chips, french fries, chicken nuggets….I refuse to purchase them.
I make baked chicken “nuggets”. He won’t even taste them. I bake “fries”. He won’t taste them.
How do you entice a young austic child to even taste?
He is not my child, but I care for him.
dear dr
i’m little confused here we had start treatment with deit (casein, sugar ,bad foods) , candida ,osr, vitamins and supplements
and after one and half month we are going to start hbot therapy
is something missing here is there meds we have to start and what is over the counter meds
and all of those meds just to treat symptoms not the cuase
thanks
wm
mi 5 yr old son has autism , he is very much fond of both milk & bread ( esp. parathas ) ; i hv switched to giving him soya milk instead ; but i still give him bread since he doesnt want to eat other alternatives like rice etc . can u give any sugestions ; and regarding the cucumber as Dr. samer has mentioned , he doesn’t like any fruit or vegetable , wat can i do ? can i give him speech n behaviour therapy at home ; wats the procedure ? which multi vitamins do u suggest ?
plz help
lubna
My daughter had a mild case of autism.. Discovered when she was 2.8 years old.
I started asap the diet (no causin no gluten) and o2 therapy by using oxygen chamber
Also sumplmen food
After one year my daughter is normal person thanks God
However we still on the diet but from time to time I’m using small quantity of not allowed
Food to increase her system.
Hi Suaad, Great job! To test out her tolerance of food sensitivities, try each item separately and look for any old reactions coming back, and if not we could assumed it is okay for her diet. Best to do an allergy test for food sensitivity, and/or Casein/peptides urine test.
Hi Lubna, first do a GFCF diet to your best knowledge and get educated on it as well. Checkout goat milk as possibility for substitution for cow milk instead of soy milk (as about 40% with reaction to cow milk also have to this milk form). Try to cook variety of vegetables and fruits and even semi-puree to feed him until he likes them. Variety is the key and even texture plays an important role. I am unfamiliar with using cucumber as the Chinese calls this a cooling food great fd you have ‘internal heat’. Continue any Speech or Behaviour therapy as he get healthier he would perform better. Check with your healthcare provider in regard to therapies. Important if you are not doing any biomedical treatment to take a good multi-vitamins, minerals (no copper) and a good Omegas.
Hi WM, please don’t despair yet and be patient. If confused, start slowly and important if your healthcare provider is well-verse in biomedical approaches or a DAN phusician. Use pharmaceutical meds only if conditions is serious now and need to be control or stabilize otherwise do natural as much possible. It is not too late yet.
Hi Elizabeth, it probably helps if he is not your child as you would be more inlined to make him eat properly unlike most parents who are “con” by them. Try this and let me know how it works. As usual feed him prepared healthy meal (check out some recipes from this book “The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to the Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet” by Pamela Compart) mixed in with his bad food but on the condition he can have the bad food after he finish the good food first. Then over time, give him more of the good food and then much lesser of the bad food until one day most of his meals consist of only good food.
Hi Dr. Samer, please let us know more about using the cucumber as a great component in the GFCF diet for autism.
hi, my child is 6 years and he isn’t on a diet. I think that everybody should do any test to his child, before starting any diet. Please doktor tell me is this true or not. If yes, tell me the name of the test that I should do to my son, before starting any diet?
Thank you very much
Thank you very much
Hi,my child is 4 years old regressed non verbal with hyper activity,he was on the GFCF for 6 month with supplements with little improvemnet then i stoped evey thing for another 6 month without reggrestion but slow improvent due to ABA he attended then we did for him again some lab tests it shows v high sensitivity to all milk and casomorphins but no gliadomorphines and he has candia +3 and bacteria +4 and some beneficial bacteria is missing in the comprehensive stool profile,his dan dr recomended SCD even he never had any GI problems in the past,what would you recomened for us to try the diet or concentrate on the mercury cause he has high porphyrins?
Hi Lina, I believed the key for your boy is in the gut and nevertheless you cannot do chelation therapy without clearing and strengthening the GI first. The SCD is great to do if you could and even better if you also nourish the gut: enzymes, pre- and probiotic, antifungal and definitely avid any allergens at all costs for 6 -12 months. then recheck.
Hi Figo, to be sure to be on a special diet, you should do allergy ELISA test, gliadin/casein urine test, comprehensive stool analysis testing and then you can figure out the best diet for your child.