Abstract
The allergy desensitization technique, known as "intradermal neutralization", was originally described by Dr H. Carlton-Lee. The procedure was later extended and modified by Professor J. B. Miller of Mobile, Alabama and currently is used extensively for treating allergic disease in humans, especially in the USA, but also in Canada, the UK and Australia. The technique has been shown in many clinical papers to be effective in humans as a means of desensitizing both food and biological inhalant allergens. It is also effective in chemical sensitivity. Although there have been sporadic reports of successful use in horses and other animals, this is the first to show a marked effect in equine asthma, otherwise known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heaves. The results in equine urticaria are even better and there appears to be benefit in some cases of headshaking (equine rhinitis). The number of horses treated for sweet itch was too small to draw any conclusion. The positive effects shown in this study lend further support to those studies in humans, as a placebo effect in horses must be highly unlikely.