Helminthic therapy and allergen immunotherapy
Helminthic therapy and allergen immunotherapy (allergy shots) are complementary, and several people have found that a combination of these two therapies has provided the best treatment for their allergies.
A doctor who has used both Specific Allergen Immunotherapy (SIT) and helminthic therapy to treat himself, has suggested that SIT is like using a graphic equaliser to reduce undesirable frequency peaks in one's adaptive immune response. If they can be identified, these peaks can be tuned down in a "frequency specific" manner by SIT. In contrast, he says that helminthic therapy is more like the master volume control on the amplifier, which turns down the whole thing. Therefore, used in concert, SIT and helminthic therapy are complementary.
It is possible for allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) to produce adverse effects, including causing or exacerbating autoimmune disease in rare cases. [2]
It may therefore be advantageous to commence helminthic therapy before starting allergen immunotherapy, since the worms might help to prevent adverse reactions being triggered by the allergy shots.
Here is a very detailed support group discussion on Enzyme Potentiated Desensitisation (EPD) and Low Dose Allergen Immunotherapy (LDA) in relation to helminthic therapy.
Risk attached to peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT)
Although oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy can effectively induce desensitisation, it has been shown to also considerably increase the risk of allergic and anaphylactic reactions. Studies have shown that patients who received peanut immunotherapy had a 22 per cent risk of life-threatening anaphylaxis during the follow-up period, which lasted around a year in most studies. This puts the risk of peanut oral immunotherapy at around three times higher than the risk for patients who did not have the therapy. [4]