 I'm Dr. Thomas Brandeiske. I'm an otolaryngologist practicing in Brick, New Jersey. I'm on staff at Ocean Medical Center. We have offices, my partners and I have offices here in Brick and Jackson. I have a certificate of added qualification in otolaryngic allergy. That certificate was available through the American Osteopathic Association and its unique certificate in the state. An allergy is an immune mediated inflammatory response in terms of your nose and throat. It will cause symptoms of the eyes, ears, nose and throat such as itching and sneezing, fullness of the ears, recurrent sinusitis, vocal and breathing problems such as asthma. The general population has affected 20 to 22% by allergy. A subgroup, the asthmatic patient, 80% of those people are suffering with allergy and perhaps don't even know We work primarily with inhalant allergens that aggravate the respiratory tract including the sinuses and lungs as well as the middle ear. A second category would be food allergy. Ingested materials can cause irritation. A great example would be children who are allergic to milk and eggs may have asthma. If patients have breakthrough symptoms, we're going to consider doing an allergy test to help them identify what they're allergic to and to help them stay away from those allergens. The patients who need to consider immunotherapy are those who have extreme symptoms that are not controlled. If they are having problems with chronic cough and asthma that's out of control, despite using the medications that their pulmonologist or internist or family physician have prescribed, they may need to try to control their asthma with immunotherapy that is on a weekly schedule eventually expanding to every three or four weeks depending on how the patient responds. Additionally, sublingual immunotherapy or taking allergy drops could be very useful for patients. Patients who have a hard time getting to the doctor's office for regular immunotherapy can dose themselves at home with drops under the tongue. The major advantage of that treatment is a lower risk of anaphylactic reaction. Therefore it's the only immunotherapy that is safe for home administration.