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(This post was last modified: Yesterday 05:35 PM by C C.)
https://www.sciencenorway.no/allergy-ara...ed/2697910
EXCERPTS: Meat allergy is becoming more common in several parts of the world, according to Nature News. And the suspected culprit comes as a surprise to many: ticks. "There are two ways in which ticks can make you allergic to red meat," says Marie Alnæs.
She is a senior consultant and researches allergies at Haukeland University Hospital. Unlike typical tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease and TBE, this condition is not caused by bacteria or viruses.
Instead, it is linked to a type of sugar called alpha-gal. Ticks can expose you to this sugar in two different ways. "One is that the tick produces the substance itself, and the other is that it picks it up during an earlier blood meal from another animals," says Alnæs.
[...] "A small number of people can develop a severe systemic reaction, known as anaphylaxis, after eating only a small amount of red meat. Others may simply experience mild stomach pain, some hives, or a little itching," says Alnæs.
[...] A case study in the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association, which Alnæs helped write, describes a man in his 60s who was admitted to a Norwegian hospital with anaphylactic shock. He had to be given oxygen, intravenous fluids, and adrenaline.
The man, who had previously been healthy and had no history of allergies, later said that he had received over 20 tick bites two months earlier. When he also confirmed that he had eaten red meat on the day he became ill, doctors began to suspect a connection.
They tested his blood for antibodies. Sure enough, he had developed an allergy to alpha-gal... (MORE -missing details)
EXCERPTS: Meat allergy is becoming more common in several parts of the world, according to Nature News. And the suspected culprit comes as a surprise to many: ticks. "There are two ways in which ticks can make you allergic to red meat," says Marie Alnæs.
She is a senior consultant and researches allergies at Haukeland University Hospital. Unlike typical tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease and TBE, this condition is not caused by bacteria or viruses.
Instead, it is linked to a type of sugar called alpha-gal. Ticks can expose you to this sugar in two different ways. "One is that the tick produces the substance itself, and the other is that it picks it up during an earlier blood meal from another animals," says Alnæs.
[...] "A small number of people can develop a severe systemic reaction, known as anaphylaxis, after eating only a small amount of red meat. Others may simply experience mild stomach pain, some hives, or a little itching," says Alnæs.
[...] A case study in the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association, which Alnæs helped write, describes a man in his 60s who was admitted to a Norwegian hospital with anaphylactic shock. He had to be given oxygen, intravenous fluids, and adrenaline.
The man, who had previously been healthy and had no history of allergies, later said that he had received over 20 tick bites two months earlier. When he also confirmed that he had eaten red meat on the day he became ill, doctors began to suspect a connection.
They tested his blood for antibodies. Sure enough, he had developed an allergy to alpha-gal... (MORE -missing details)
