Our History
Allergy desensitization done by the mouth dates back as early as 1900 when New York physician H.H. Curtis relieved his patients' hay fever by placing pollen antigen drops in their mouths. But it wasn't until the 1920s that placing allergy drops under the tongue truly became part of allergy history.
St. Louis ENT doctor French Hansel experimented with sublingual drops for dust mites while he was a Mayo clinic fellow in the 1920s and published his results in 1936. He was the first to observe that placing antigen drops under the tongue prompted faster, more effective desensitization than in any other part of the mouth.
A new generation of physicians resurrected interest in SLIT in the 1960s. It was in 1966 that David L. Morris, MD attended his first sublingual immunotherapy conference. He'd been searching for an effective way to treat his mold allergic patients; mold exposure was an occupational hazard to dairy farmers. Many were non-smokers, yet they often had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Morris had seen it many times in medical school. Also called hypersensitivity pneumonititis, Farmer's Lung usually includes asthma caused by allergies to mold that grows in hay baled wet.
In Wisconsin's humid summers, hay was nearly impossible to dry completely before baling. Damp hay stacked in small bales warmed as if composted, creating ideal conditions for mold growth that spewed billions of allergenic spores when the bales were opened and used for feed. Often these patients would feel so sick after receiving injection immunotherapy; it was hard for them to work. And their schedule made it difficult for them to come to Dr. Morris' office frequently for injections.
When Dr. David Morris first started his Wednesday night allergy clinic, he began offering patients a choice: shots or drops. "After three years," said Morris, "no one was lining up for shots anymore."
In 1970, Dr. Morris opened Allergy Associates of La Crosse, a sole sublingual immunotherapy clinic. Since that time, he and his physician partners have treated 125,000 patients with a wide variety of allergic conditions using allergy drops.
In addition to treating complex allergic patients from around the country, the physician partners from Allergy Associates of La Crosse have remained dedicated to sharing their knowledge of sublingual immunotherapy with other physicians. This dedication led to the development of Allergychoices, Inc., a healthcare company that provides tools and services to enable physicians to provide sublingual immunotherapy to their patients, and gives allergy sufferers information and access to practices offering sublingual immunotherapy. Allergy Associates' physicians have provided training and education to leading medical university hospitals, branches of the U.S. military healthcare, and a number of private practices, with many of those now treating patients with the La Crosse Method™ Practice Protocol.
Dr. Morris first began publishing papers in medical literature examining the sublingual treatment of allergies to foods and inhalants in 1969. Today, we continue to work toward better understanding of sublingual immunotherapy's effectiveness through research at our clinic and by developing research partnerships around the world through universities and groups that include the Foundation for Allergy and Immunology Research. Learn more about our research.