Alpha-Gal Allergy
Why Is Alpha-Gal Allergy So Misunderstood and Mi…
According to the CDC, “illnesses from mosquito, tick, and flea bites have tripled in the U.S.” in recent years (May 1, 2018). Ticks are on the move. These disease vectors are found from Californ…
Show 1344: Managing Meat Allergy and Other Tick-…
If you are like us, you welcome the first warm days of the season with joy. And then you start to fret. How can you avoid tick bites? Many people recognize Lyme disease as a serious health threat from…
How Can You Prevent Tick Bites?
As we move into summertime and look forward to outdoor activities such as biking, hiking and camping, people start to worry about Lyme disease. While this infection can be serious, it is not the only …
Alpha-Gal Syndrome Creates Carrageenan Crisis
We have been talking about tick bite meat allergy for at least a decade. That’s when we started interviewing Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills. This University of Virginia researcher has been described by his…
Will Chigger Bites Give You Unexpected Meat Alle…
Several years ago, doctors began treating people who arrived in emergency rooms with a delayed, strange and unexpected meat allergy. Patients might awaken in the middle of the night with terrible hive…
Show 1167: Will a Tick Bite Make You Allergic to…
For some years, emergency doctors and allergists were puzzled by people who started having extremely serious allergic reactions in the middle of the night, a long time after they had eaten or drunk an…
Will Tick Bites Make You Allergic to Red Meat?
Most people are aware that tick bites can transmit infections such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme disease. There is another condition caused by tick bites, however. It’s called alpha-gal a…
Chigger Bites May Trigger Alpha-Gal Allergy to R…
Have you ever been bitten by chiggers? Some people barely notice such bites. Others, like me, are highly allergic to such attacks. We develop severe itching along with nasty blisters that can take wee…
Show 1128: What You Need to Know About Tick-Born…
If you’ve spent time out in the woods this summer, or if you hope to hike or bike outside, you need to know about ticks. Ticks are not just icky; they can also carry dangerous diseases. In fact, tic…
The Right Clothes Can Protect You from Ticks
Avoiding tick-borne diseases starts with preventing tick bites to the extent possible. Outdoor enthusiasts are turning to a new tactic: the right clothes, which are those coated with permethrin. Testi…
Are You Highly Allergic? What To Do About EpiPen…
With warm weather, bees, wasps and other stinging creatures are on the move. That means people who are highly allergic to stings need to keep epinephrine available at all times. This injectable medica…
Is There a Sugar from Mammals Hiding in Your Med…
When someone has an allergic reaction to a medication, doctors often assume that the person is reacting to the active ingredient itself. Increasingly, though, people are allergic to another ingredien…
Why Is Doctor Skeptical about Life-Threatening A…
When a new health threat emerges, it can sometimes take time before it is widely recognized and acknowledged. Sensitivity to a mammalian sugar called alpha gal can cause a life-threatening allergy. He…
Gummy Bears Are Risky After Tick Bite Allergy
More and more people are being bitten by lone star ticks. This can lead to a tick bite allergy (called alpha-gal) that shows up as a dangerous delayed reaction to eating red meat. Some people develop …
Life-Threatening Allergy to Meat Is Triggered by…
Imagine waking up in the middle of the night with itchy hives all over your body. You might also find you were having trouble breathing. A trip to the ER could safe your life, but the cause of your my…
830 Alpha-Gal Allergy (archive)
In some parts of the country, emergency room physicians have been faced with a puzzling scenario: the patient awakens in the middle of the night with unbearable itching, hives, low blood pressure or t…
Tick Bite Led to Red-Meat Allergy
Q. I have two friends who have developed severe red-meat allergies, one of whom was told by his doctor that it was likely tick-bite related. What can you tell us about this? A. The condition your frie…
Meat Allergy Is Not Imaginary
Q. I have had serious allergic reactions for almost 20 years and have almost died three times. Despite this, doctors told me that my allergies (to beef, pork or lamb) were all in my head. When I neede…
Strange Allergy Starts with Tick Bite
Q. One evening five weeks ago, I had a weird allergic reaction. I hadn't had any supper or taken any medicine, so my hives were puzzling. But I had had a hamburger for lunch. And I often get tick bite…
Tick Bite Leads to Scary Allergy
Tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are quite frightening enough. Since the turn of the 21st century, doctors have begun to recognize a new hazard from tick bites. I…
Meat Allergy Could Be Deadly
Q. My 16-year-old daughter was diagnosed with alpha-gal allergy several months ago after numerous trips to the ER. She's had tick bites that itched, swelled and remained a large hard knot for weeks. S…