4 ms·

They tend to be critical against immunotherapy in general, if it's not for those allergies where the therapy has a good chance of working and is without risk. O

by onli 2y ago

They tend to be critical against immunotherapy in general, if it's not for those allergies where the therapy has a good chance of working and is without risk. Otherwise avoidance of the allergen is preached. We encountered that with a cat hair allergy, treatment was refused.

ekianjo 2y ago
> avoidance of the allergen whats the point of the allergist then?
- onli 2y ago
  My question exactly. To be fair, for hay fever the therapy was offered. And reading it up back then, the treatments against animal hair are often not successful, and they have a certain risk. Plus no standardized medication, so there are problems with keeping the exact dosage needed. All that combined made me conclude that not wanting to lead such a treatment is not a completely unreasonable position for a doctor. One would have to find a doctor specialized enough to do it anyway.
  - namibj 2y ago
    For cats, just feed them egg from chickens that live with cats, as the egg has antibodies against the allergen in cat saliva, and the egg will cause those to get neutralized before the cat spreads them to its fur. There are commercial products for this that have such egg powder.
    - onli 2y ago
      It seems that is basically the same mechanism as the Purina Live Clear cat food? That one we tried, and did not notice a definitive effect. What did help was keeping the cats out of the bedroom, and later being pregnant removed the allergy so far almost completely for her ;)
- jack_riminton 2y ago
  The purpose of a system is what it does. If they make money by identifying allergies and then treating those people for those allergies, as opposed to parents giving their children 2 peanuts a week, then their livelihood is under threat. If kids were left to get dirty and put the occasional thing in their mouth, which kids have been doing since the dawn of time, then there wouldn’t be such an allergy problem
  - SquareWheel 2y ago
    > If they make money by identifying allergies and then treating those people for those allergies, as opposed to parents giving their children 2 peanuts a week, then their livelihood is under threat. I find that view to be overly pessimistic, and not reflective of what health care providers actually do. Practitioners of all sorts work hard to cure and prevent diseases every day. Every time a cancerous tumour is removed, it significantly reduces the chances of that person needing follow-up care. Every vaccine that is given reduces future hospital visits. Every piece of good advice to exercise and eat right keeps somebody away from the doctor, rather than turning them into a repeat customer. Doctors aren't evil. They aren't scheming to lock patients in by offering suboptimal treatments. They provide the best care that they're able, within the limits of the knowledge and resources available to them.
    - jack_riminton 2y ago
      I’m not saying the individuals are evil or making any moral claim at the individual level at all, I’m talking about the system and the behaviours that are incentivised.

by onli 2y ago

ekianjo 2y ago

> avoidance of the allergen whats the point of the allergist then?

onli 2y ago
My question exactly. To be fair, for hay fever the therapy was offered. And reading it up back then, the treatments against animal hair are often not successful, and they have a certain risk. Plus no standardized medication, so there are problems with keeping the exact dosage needed. All that combined made me conclude that not wanting to lead such a treatment is not a completely unreasonable position for a doctor. One would have to find a doctor specialized enough to do it anyway.
- namibj 2y ago
  For cats, just feed them egg from chickens that live with cats, as the egg has antibodies against the allergen in cat saliva, and the egg will cause those to get neutralized before the cat spreads them to its fur. There are commercial products for this that have such egg powder.
  - onli 2y ago
    It seems that is basically the same mechanism as the Purina Live Clear cat food? That one we tried, and did not notice a definitive effect. What did help was keeping the cats out of the bedroom, and later being pregnant removed the allergy so far almost completely for her ;)
jack_riminton 2y ago
The purpose of a system is what it does. If they make money by identifying allergies and then treating those people for those allergies, as opposed to parents giving their children 2 peanuts a week, then their livelihood is under threat. If kids were left to get dirty and put the occasional thing in their mouth, which kids have been doing since the dawn of time, then there wouldn’t be such an allergy problem
- SquareWheel 2y ago
  > If they make money by identifying allergies and then treating those people for those allergies, as opposed to parents giving their children 2 peanuts a week, then their livelihood is under threat. I find that view to be overly pessimistic, and not reflective of what health care providers actually do. Practitioners of all sorts work hard to cure and prevent diseases every day. Every time a cancerous tumour is removed, it significantly reduces the chances of that person needing follow-up care. Every vaccine that is given reduces future hospital visits. Every piece of good advice to exercise and eat right keeps somebody away from the doctor, rather than turning them into a repeat customer. Doctors aren't evil. They aren't scheming to lock patients in by offering suboptimal treatments. They provide the best care that they're able, within the limits of the knowledge and resources available to them.
  - jack_riminton 2y ago
    I’m not saying the individuals are evil or making any moral claim at the individual level at all, I’m talking about the system and the behaviours that are incentivised.