Unfortunately, allergies don’t always go away as we age. Sometimes, they can stick around, shadowing everyday life and causing a host of irritating symptoms. In the demographic of older adults, millions suffer from allergies every day, many of those experiencing the annoying symptoms of cat allergies.
Luckily, there’s a promising solution: cat allergy shots. This treatment is a type of allergy immunotherapy that offers hope for senior cat lovers who want to find relief from persistent symptoms.
What is a Cat Allergy?
Cat allergies in seniors are much like any other allergy: they happen when your immune system reacts to a foreign substance it deems harmful.
Your immune system produces antibodies, blood proteins that counteract a specific antigen. These antibodies protect your body, but sometimes, they make mistakes. They might identify a foreign substance as harmful even though it isn’t. The foreign substance is called an allergen, which, in this case, is cats.
When your body comes into contact with the cat allergen, those antibodies react, communicating with cells that release specific chemicals to produce the allergic response. Your symptoms might be as mild as a runny nose or as severe as anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially life-threatening condition that requires immediate medical attention.
While many folks believe that cat allergies are caused by the cat’s fur, this is rarely true. It’s possible to have an allergy to cat fur, but more commonly, the allergy is to the cat’s dander. Their dander is the dead skin cells they shed to make room for new ones, sloughing it off in the areas they roam. It can cling to furniture, clothing, and other surfaces and may even become airborne.
In some cases, the allergy might stem from the cat’s saliva, which can also cling to various surfaces and can become airborne when dry.
Cat Allergy Shots: Explained
Cat allergy shots, also called cat subcutaneous immunotherapy, are a type of allergy immunotherapy that desensitize the body to the animal. This treatment focuses on the allergy, not the symptoms. In doing so, it can provide long-term relief that traditional treatments, like corticosteroids or antihistamines, can’t.
Cat allergy shots help “train” the body to become less reactive to cats by administering a small, gradually increasing dose of the allergen via tablets, drops, or an injection. The treatment exposes your immune system to the allergen, giving it the opportunity to build a tolerance.
With time, the treatment helps reduce the production of the “blocking” antibody responsible for triggering the reaction, thus alleviating the allergy. This process doesn’t happen overnight. Instead, it takes several years for the best results to appear, although most folks notice initial improvements in the first year.
Other Types of Allergy Immunotherapy
Cat allergy shots are just one type of allergy immunotherapy. The second type is called sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), and unlike allergy shots, it doesn’t involve needles. Instead, it uses tablets and drops to deliver the dose of the allergen. These drops and tablets are administered under the tongue, working toward the same results without the need for frequent injections.
This type of allergy immunotherapy can be administered at home, as the probability of an adverse reaction is low. So, with this route, you wouldn’t need to go to frequent doctor visits or undergo injections.
Do Allergy Shots Actually Work for Seniors?
Cat allergy shots for humans are highly effective for people from varying walks of life, including seniors. While this might be the first you’ve heard of cat allergy shots, the treatment has been around for over a century. Allergy immunotherapy was originally introduced in 1911, so researchers have had plenty of time to explore its secrets.
In that time, countless studies and trials have documented the efficacy of allergy immunotherapy, including allergy shots, for people of all ages. For example, a handful of research and clinical trials demonstrated the efficacy of repeated subcutaneous injections (allergy shots) for achieving an allergen-specific tolerance that offered benefits years beyond discontinuation.
The research backing this treatment is extensive. Studies on specific allergies, treatments, and age groups are also available, so if you want to learn more, there’s no shortage of material to read!
Closing Thoughts
Cat allergy shots can be an effective solution for people of all ages, including older adults. Extensive research and clinical trials conducted over the past century have demonstrated the long-term benefits of allergy immunotherapy, offering hope for seniors seeking relief from cat allergies. If you or a senior loved one is struggling with cat allergies, it might be worthwhile to explore the option of cat allergy shots as a potential long-term solution.
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