Alpha-Gal Syndrome, the tick-borne “Red Meat Allergy”

878. A tick bite you may not even remember getting can leave you unable to eat a hamburger, a slice of pizza, or a bowl of ice cream. That's alpha-gal syndrome, and it's turning up far outside its original range.

Alpha-gal is a sugar molecule found in the cells of most mammals but not in humans. When a lone star tick injects it under the skin, the immune system can start treating it as a threat. After that, beef, pork, lamb, venison, and sometimes dairy or gelatin can trigger a reaction three to six hours later, which is a big part of why this food allergy goes undiagnosed for years.

Today, Monica breaks down what the research actually shows:

Why the lone star tick's range is expanding into the Midwest, the Northeast, and eastern CanadaHow alpha-gal syndrome differs from Lyme disease, and why they get confusedWhat the CDC's estimate of 450,000 cases means, and why the "1 in 4" figure circulating on social media isn't measuring the same thingWhat a diagnosis means for your diet, including collagen, gelatin, organ meats, and why tolerance varies so much from person to personWhy symptoms can be worse on some days than othersWhether the condition is permanent, and what happens to antibody levels over timeHow to lower your risk of tick bites, per the CDCWhere gene-edited GalSafe pigs fit into the picture

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References

About Alpha-gal Syndrome | Alpha-gal Syndrome | CDC

Nearly One in Four Adults in High-Risk States Have Alpha-gal Antibodies Linked to Tick-Borne Meat Allergy | Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases

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