Ticks causing mysterious meat allergy

[canis]

(CNN) -- Helen Olive had her first allergy attack 11 years ago. She had gone to bed only to wake up hours later because her neck felt as if it were on fire.

"It was terrible," said Olive, who is 42 and lives in North Carolina. "The sensation was all over my body and then I developed hives."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/20/health...rgy/index.html

The cause in this case is the tiny Lone Star Tick. For Id purposes, the female has a white dot on her back.

http://www.tickinfo.com/lonestartick.htm

[zenwalk]

Another good reason to stop eating meat. Meat will one day go the way of smoking either through price or the carnivores will be swapped out by some exotic virus brought about by our fascination with antibiotics.

[canis]

Another good reason to stop eating meat. Meat will one day go the way of smoking either through price or the carnivores will be swapped out by some exotic virus brought about by our fascination with antibiotics.

I think too many people have been conditioned to having to have meat and dairy for too long. I consider myself lucky that when I was a kid that wasn't the case. We had many meatless meals. I know people today though that think that if they don't have meat with their meal they will starve. The mind-stomach connection is a powerful one. If this is a new variant of the lone star tick it does make one wonder what's going on?

[karlydee]

Another good reason to stop eating meat. Meat will one day go the way of smoking either through price or the carnivores will be swapped out by some exotic virus brought about by our fascination with antibiotics.

It is an allergy caused by Ige overexposure due to proteins/bacteria injected by the tick during feeding.

It is an allergy to a sugar, galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal) produce in mammals.

Of interest is that ehrlichiosis caused by tick bites (ehrlighis bacteria) can cause an immune response that precipitates Guianne-Barre sydrome, where the body attacks it's own myelin sheath - resulting in paralysis, symptoms can be severe enough to require life support and cause death if not promptly treated.

BTW,

Alpha-gal IIRC, is not synthesized by non-mammals; so fish, shellfish, and fowl should not cause the anaphylaxis.

[karlydee]

I think too many people have been conditioned to having to have meat and dairy for too long. I consider myself lucky that when I was a kid that wasn't the case. We had many meatless meals. I know people today though that think that if they don't have meat with their meal they will starve. The mind-stomach connection is a powerful one. If this is a new variant of the lone star tick it does make one wonder what's going on?

It's not a new variant of the tick.

It (meat allergy) has been described in the literature for decades, yet today we know what causes it. It is an allergy to alpha-gal a sugar, produced in mammals -- caused by sever over-expression of IgE due to imune system challenge.


We are talking about a very rare condition (severe anaphylaxis) occurring in only 1500 cases in the US, total not yearly -- that's about 50 cases a year.

It happens worldwide (at least Australia as well, see link). So, apparently it is not limited to cause by the ls tick.
Some level of allergy to alpha-gal seems to be more prevalent than thought.
http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/58...-than-expected

[HumanSpirit]

Meat allergy for the aged has been around for a along time.... LOL The medical profession must be desperate. Stop eating beef.