Neutralisation is a method of desensitisation or immunotherapy, which “blocks” immune reactions to foods, inhalants (house dust mites, moulds, pollens, animal dander etc) and environmental chemicals (volatile organic compounds, latex and others). It was developed by an American physician, Dr Hugh Carlton-Lee in the 1970’s and was subsequently modified by Dr Joseph Miller (Miller technique).

These reactions are “dose-related”; that is, the immune system reacts to large or small doses of the offending substance, but somewhere in-between there is a fairly exact dose that is tolerated. This is known as the neutralising dose, or ‘end-point’. This dose often varies from person to person and is different for each substance to which a person is allergic/intolerant. In order to work out the correct neutralising dose for each substance, a series of tiny, painless injections are placed at the top of the arm (usually about 2 – 4 tests per substance tested). The testing solutions consist of a series of dilutions of the food, inhalant or chemical in normal saline. Glycerine is added to the concentrate to safeguard its allergenicity and therapeutic properties along with a very weak dose of benzyl-alcohol, which is added as preservative to prevent contamination (glycerine and preservative are unnecessary for chemicals).

Most people do not get any symptoms from this type of testing but a few find that their normal symptoms are exacerbated (“provoked”) during the procedure (e.g. headache, sniffles, tiredness or mild localised itching). Therefore to begin with each food or substance is tested on its own.

Once the neutralising doses for a range of foods or environmental substances have been determined, they are combined into a vaccine. Up to 25 foods can be combined into a single vaccine, with inhalants and further foods in a separate vaccine if required. The vaccines are self-administered as a painless, subcutaneous injection used daily or every other day (one is taught how to do this). The vaccines can be prescribed on the NHS, if a person’s GP is willing to do so. Each vial contains 50 doses and if used alternate days it will last about 3 months.

Neutralisation works quite quickly, so its benefits are noticed within a few weeks.

In most cases, one’s end-points remain stable and can be taken regularly over a period of time, often several years. However major stress, viral illnesses or surgery, can alter the neutralising doses in some people. In a few people the doses change from time-to-time for no obvious reason. In this case the vaccines will not work effectively and may require rechecking.

Efficancy of the method: Please refer to the end of this section for details of clinical trials using Neutralisation. In our Clinics, response varies between “excellent” in simple allergies such as pollen or dust mites and food intolerance, to “poor” in some very complex immune syndromes.

Duration of treatment: If neutralisation proves effective, it is recommended to continue for a minimum of two years in pure inhalant allergy and for three years in more difficult conditions, such as Chronic Fatigue Syndromes, severe IBS, atopic eczema and so on. Even so, neutralisation is not an “all out cure” – some patients may remain symptom-free for several years but some relapse weeks, months or years after phasing out the treatment. However, similar benefits are expected after re-testing of the end-points.

Costs: Per 2.5 hour testing session (£90.00) – The Doctor or Nurses will advise you how many sessions may be necessary. Costs per item in the vaccine £4.00 for 50 doses.

Safety: Given that the strongest dose used for testing is 1/100 or weaker of the undiluted allergen, safety is very high. Neutralisation has never caused a severe or life-threatening reaction and has been used to treat an estimated 30,000,000 people in some western countries during the last thirty-five years. It is fundamentally different from the conventional desensitisation (or “immunotherapy”), which has been associated with rare but severe reactions. It should be noted that the End-point Titration is a time consuming method and requires the input of nurses or doctors specially trained to carry out the necessary skin tests for it. For this reason, it is mainly available at the Airedale Allergy Centre and, to a lesser extent, in Weybridge, Surrey.

Main features of Neutralisation:

• It is highly specific – a person is treated for things which are relevant and show reactivity in intra-cutaneous tests
• It is fast acting – people experience its benefits within a short time, usually a few weeks
• It is a “medical” method of desensitisation – only medically qualified specialists and trained nurses can use it
• It is an “unconventional” treatment of allergies – not available in NHS hospitals
• Neutralisation can treat both immediate and delayed allergies and many complex immune conditions

You can ask for the full document on Neutralisation including references to placebo controlled clinical trials by emailing us (name & address is required)

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