Major League Baseball Bans Under the Tongue Deer Antler Spray Use

On Aug 6, 2011, ESPN reported that MLB players have been issued a warning regarding use of Deer Antler spray administered under the tongue.

Deer-Antler spray contains "potentially contaminated nutritional supplements" along with IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor) which players have used in the past as an alternative to steroids, especially given it can't be detected in urine samples (only blood testing).

What's with Deer-Antler spray specifically? Scientists discovered IGF-1 in the velvet of immature deer antlers and IGF-1 is considered a performance-enhancer that mediates the level of human growth hormone in the body.

Why under the tongue (sublingual administration)? Because the mucus membrane is quite thin under the tongue richly underlaid with capillary blood vessels allowing for direct diffusion of the substance directly into the body's bloodstream with little or no alteration. This process takes less than a minute to occur. This is in contrast to swallowing a pill which gets digested in the stomach with acid, further digested in the intestines with enzymes, absorbed into the hepatic circulation where further degradation occurs in the liver before getting into general body circulation for effect. A 30-60 minute process.

That's why sublingual nitrogen is such a potent medication to treat chest pain due to an impending heart attack. It works FAST!

It's another reason why sublingual immunotherapy otherwise known as allergy drops is a growing acceptable alternative to allergy shots to try and cure allergies.

Read the ESPN story here.

Bottles / Vials for Allergy Drops (Under Tongue) Immunotherapy

We have received a number of requests of where one can obtain allergy vials for use in SLIT (sub-lingual immunotherapy) whereby a drop is placed under the tongue to try and achieve allergy cure. This mode of treatment is an alternative to the more traditional allergy shots.

Our office provides both modes of immunotherapy.

Regarding the allergy vials themselves, you can obtain them from Edge Pharmaceuticals. They offer a number of different vial types as shown in the picture. They range in sizes from 15cc to 20cc and provide 40ul to 200ul drops with each dispensation.

Contact Info:

7264 NW 63rd Terrace

Parkland, FL 33067

Phone: 877-580-3343

Fax: 877-581-3343

Allergy Shots in Britain Require a LONG Waiting Period Afterwards

I recently heard that one reason why allergy shots are rare in England (and why sublingual "under-the-tongue" drops aka SLIT, are so common) is that British patients are required to wait under observation for anaphylaxis as long as ONE HOUR after each and every injection!!!

In fact, initially the waiting period was as long as TWO HOURS when the British Committee for Safety of Medicines became alarmed with some deaths that followed allergy injections in 1986. Subsequently, the safety committee decreed that these injections could only be administered when full equipment to cope with any emergency was at hand and further required that the patient must remain under supervision in the clinic for two hours after the injection. This had the effect of stopping this method of treatment completely, mainly because of the long waiting period.

That's quite a pity especially when considering that allergy shots were first "invented" in 1911 by two British physicians, Drs. Leonard Noon and John Freeman.

Read more about the history of allergy desensitization in England here.

Of note, our clinic provides allergy testing, allergy shots, and under-the-tongue allergy drops. And no... we do not make patients wait 1 hour after an injection.