People living in economically disadvantaged areas of major cities suffer more serious effects of asthma than others due to pollution and other reasons. Dr. Roberto Garcia of The Allergi Group has a new approach to treatment that can help.
TAMPA BAY, Fla., March 28, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Asthma does not affect all Americans equally. Those living in America's inner cities suffer from higher rates of asthma morbidity and mortality. The highest prevalence of asthma is often found in public housing.(1) The risk is especially disturbing in terms of how it affects children. The likelihood of an asthma-related emergency room visit is 40% higher for children who live in inner-city areas. The same group is 62% higher risk of asthma-related hospitalization.(2)
There is a strong correlation between a person's risk of having asthma (as well as the frequency of their attacks and even their risk of death from asthma) and their poverty level and city air quality.(3) Both city pollution and living in the inner city makes asthma worse. "A person's socioeconomical level determines their housing and their housing determines their health," says Roberto Garcia, MD, allergist and founder of The Allergi Group. "People who are economically challenged are forced to live in areas where pollution is more severe, putting them at a higher risk of developing allergic diseases and asthma."
These factors may include living near factories and garbage repositories, poor insulation in public housing, and less access to quality, affordable medical care. Factor in uncaring building managers who do not fix problems and the proximity to multiple forms of transportation adding still more pollutants, and too many Americans are left without viable treatment options or even the opportunity to prevent asthma attacks.
Time to update treatment
With the allergy and asthma treatment industry expected to grow over the next 10 years to a $900 billion industry, it's essential that the approximately 25 million Americans with asthma receive the best possible treatment.(3) The problem, however, is asthma and allergies are still being treated mostly with medications, pills, inhalers that unfortunately are associated with very poor compliance—up to 40%, according to Dr. Garcia.
"Newer interventions, biological medications, though very effective, are very expensive with estimated costs that border $40,000/patient/year. Allergen specific immunotherapy (allergy shots) are helpful in the management of asthma, but their protocol has changed very little in more than 110 years and because of strict and complex protocol, it is difficult for patients and families to participate in this form of treatment," says Dr. Garcia. More over, he adds, the dropout rate is 50-60%. All too often the families are in the suburbs and they lack time and resources to adhere to the twice-a-week allergy shots that this treatment demands.
A serious option is to develop therapies such as Nocturnal Oral Vestibular Immunotherapy that require as few as three medical visits. Using drops at bedtime applied in the vestibular area of the mouth (between the cheeks and gums), in the first month followed by routine visits every 2-3 months. Physicians could create serums based on the allergies the patient tested positive for in the office. The patients would self administer their own treatment at home, along with a follow up visit every three months, thus saving money and time.
An easier, more accessible option
According to Dr. Garcia, he and his colleagues compared the efficacy of subcutaneous immunotherapy (i.e., allergy shots) to Nocturnal Oral Vestibular Immunotherapy. There was significant symptom resolution at 24 weeks in the group of patients receiving this treatment versus the group receiving subcutaneous immunotherapy. Nocturnal Oral Vestibular Immunotherapy drops have the potential to revolutionize asthma treatment for inner city residents by allowing them access to simple, safe, effective and inexpensive medication.
"We have data that shows that inner city asthma was impacted in a very significant manner by the simplicity and accessibility of this protocol, which also translates into adherence to treatment," Dr. Garcia says. "We see that with allergy shots, people start and halfway through they say 'I cannot do this. I cannot take off work to get an allergy shot.' So, it's kind of an elite model of treatment." The methods that worked 110 years ago for treating allergies and asthma leave much to be desired today.
Allergy treatments are overdue for disruption. Alternative treatments such as nocturnal oral vestibular immunotherapy treatments can improve patient experiences and outcomes, particularly for inner city residents. This treatment has been shown to decrease a person's total allergy/asthma symptom score by almost 40% over six months, according to Dr. Garcia. Due to certain risk factors concentrated in urban areas, such as exposure to air pollution, inner city residents suffer more from asthma. Sublingual drops can remedy the situation and improve the negative societal impact, as the middle class has shrunk by six percentage points or more in more than 53 urban areas.(4)
Dr. Garcia explains, "In medicine, people tend to attach themselves to what they've been using for a while, but I think a century is a little bit too long to be treating something the same way. This protocol bypasses many of the problems and makes the treatment accessible."
About the Allergi Group:
The Allergi Group has been providing care to patients ranging from infancy to adulthood for 35 years. They specialize in diagnosis and treatment of respiratory allergies, skin allergies—including hives and eczema, food, insect and drug allergies—and immune deficiencies causing recurrent infections. Dr. Roberto Garcia-Ibáñez developed a unique treatment protocol, Nocturnal Vestibular Immunotherapy, drops that are applied nocturnally at bedtime, which uses the body's own self-repair cycle to allow better efficacy, treatment and quicker results—weeks instead of months.
1. Gergen, Peter and Togias, Alkis; "Inner City Asthma"; ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4254510/.
2. Johns Hopkins Medicine; "City Living Can Make Asthma Worse for Poor Children, Study Finds"; March 15, 2017; hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/city_living_can_make_asthma_worse_for_poor_children_study_finds.
3. Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America; "Allergy Facts and Figures"; aafa.org/asthma-facts/.
4. Pew Research Center; "America's Shrinking Middle Class: A Close Look at Changes Within Metropolitan Areas"; May 11, 2016; pewresearch.org/social-trends/2016/05/11/americas-shrinking-middle-class-a-close-look-at-changes-within-metropolitan-areas/.
Media Contact
Karla Jo Helms, JOTO PR Disruptors™, 727-727-4619, [email protected]
SOURCE Allergi Group
Share this article