Research
- Allergy Associates of La Crosse Provider Research — The providers at Allergy Associates of La Crosse have a long history of being part of and driving additional research on sublingual immunotherapy in the U.S.
- Bibliography of Sublingual Immunotherapy Publications — Over 1,000 citations are contained in this bibliography, including hundreds of peer-reviewed studies published since 1995.
- La Crosse Method Supporting Evidence — Studies that specifically address the key tenets of the La Crosse Method™ Protocol
- Patient Survey Results — An overview of Quality of Life in Peer Reviewed Published Studies and Patient Surveys
Our founder, Dr. David Morris, began offering his patients sublingual immunotherapy in 1968. By 1969, he published his first research paper, “Sublingual Immunotherapy for Food Allergy” in the Annals of Allergy. In 1970, with his second paper, Dr. Morris broke new ground in medicine — he was the first to report success using sublingual immunotherapy to treat respiratory diseases caused by mold allergy.
Although our primary focus is on patient care, we continue to contribute to sublingual immunotherapy and general allergy research. It takes significant time, resources and funding to conduct “randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled studies,” which are the gold standard in the U.S. It is especially hard for us to conduct these studies at Allergy Associates of La Crosse, as we feel it is an ethical question to ask any of our patients, typically those with significant allergic disease and traveling from a distance, to participate in a study where the treatment might be a placebo. But that doesn’t stop us from collaborating with other research institutes or conducting other types of research at our clinic.
In the last 10 years, we have collaborated with leading institutions such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Duke University, and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center to investigate sublingual immunotherapy for dust mite allergy, peanut allergy, and the economic benefit of sublingual immunotherapy. We have also shared our clinic research results at American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology annual meetings regarding treating patients affected by poison ivy with sublingual immunotherapy and the impact our treatment approach had on allergic conditions associated with asthma in pediatric patients.
Our most recent publication, “Quality of life improvements with sublingual immunotherapy: a prospective study of efficacy,” has been published in the international peer-reviewed journal, Journal of Allergy.
Recent research findings
- A growing number of well-designed studies show under-the-tongue drops are safe and effective for adults and children.
- These studies show that drops reduced asthma symptoms and sometimes prevented asthma from developing. The benefits lasted years after treatment stopped.
- The World Health Organization endorses under-the-tongue drops as an alternative to allergy shots.
- The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) determined that under-the-tongue drops are effective for treating allergic rhinitis and asthma.
- The Cochrane Review panel of experts concluded that drops significantly reduce allergy symptoms and the need for symptom-relieving medicines for dust, pollens, ragweed, and cat dander.
- The American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy concluded drops are safe, effective, and convenient.