During my training as a respiratory physician

Abramson, for his part, now also encourages doctors to consider immunotherapy for appropriate patients. He describes the risk of side effects as "acceptable but definite" for both adults and children.

The review authors say that allergy drops, which patients place under the tongue, might offer effective asthma control with a reduced risk of serious side effects. While widely used in Europe and the United Kingdom, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved "sublingual immunotherapy."

"During my training as a respiratory physician, I was taught that this was a potentially dangerous form of therapy that was of no benefit in asthma, Abramson said. "I personally have changed my views since working on this series of reviews."

The review discloses that Abramson received an honorarium from Boehringer Ingelheim for speaking at the Airways 2006 meeting. He also received a grant from Reckitt Benckiser for a study of NSAID-induced asthma.

Abramson MH, Puy RM, Weiner JM. Injection allergen immunotherapy for asthma. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 8.