Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#1

Post by x14km2d » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 3:10 AM UTC

Re: Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#2

Post by eganist » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 4:26 AM UTC

This and Lyme are my main(ly irrational) reasons for never hiking outside of, like, Hawaii. And I'm sure a more seasoned HNer can scare me away from that, too.

Any news on whether exposure treatments like those for peanut allergies have any effect on alpha-gal allergies too?

Re: Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#3

Post by alexfromapex » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 4:26 AM UTC

I swear I had this like 2 years ago after getting several tick bites. I got hives and nausea from eating flame broiled burgers at a certain restaurant and generally felt bad after eating most meat after never having issues my whole life. Seems to have gone away after a course of antibiotics strangely so guessing it’s bacteria related.

Re: Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#4

Post by bryant » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 4:31 AM UTC

alexfromapex wrote: post #3

I swear I had this like 2 years ago after getting several tick bites. I got hives and nausea from eating flame broiled burgers at a certain restaurant and generally felt bad after eating most meat after never having issues my whole life. Seems to have gone away after a course of antibiotics strangely so guessing it’s bacteria related.

The article explores this a bit, specifically with ticks.

> Ticks that cause alpha-gal syndrome are believed to carry alpha-gal molecules from the blood of the animals they commonly bite, such as cows and sheep. When a carrier tick bites a human, the tick injects alpha-gal into the person's body.

> For unknown reasons, some people have such a strong immune response to these molecules that they can no longer eat red meat or products made from mammals without a mild to severe allergic reaction. People who are exposed to many tick bites over time may develop more-severe symptoms.

More an allergy than anything else. Allergies can go away over time, but it'd be a surprise if your case was specifically remedied by antibiotics if you had alpha-gal syndrome.

Re: Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#5

Post by grp000 » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 4:35 AM UTC

As an unpopular HN opinion, I love red meat, so this would be very inconvenient for me. Although, synthetic beef products are out there so I guess there's that option. Just wish they had more weightiness and texture.

Re: Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#6

Post by 0des » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 4:39 AM UTC

I found this podcast [0] by Radiolab on the topic to be quite the eye opener. (ear opener?)

[0] - https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/alpha...

Re: Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#7

Post by alecst » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 4:40 AM UTC

For my entire childhood my mom’s email name was alphagal. You know, because she’s a gal from Alpharetta. Or at least that’s what I thought.

Re: Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#8

Post by ajkjk » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 4:41 AM UTC

grp000 wrote: post #5

As an unpopular HN opinion, I love red meat, so this would be very inconvenient for me. Although, synthetic beef products are out there so I guess there's that option. Just wish they had more weightiness and texture.

I don't think that's unpopular.

Re: Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#9

Post by ajkjk » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 4:43 AM UTC

eganist wrote: post #2

This and Lyme are my main(ly irrational) reasons for never hiking outside of, like, Hawaii. And I'm sure a more seasoned HNer can scare me away from that, too. Any news on whether exposure treatments like those for peanut allergies have any effect on alpha-gal allergies too?

I feel like it is necessary to be scared of it an amount proportional to how bad it is times the expected chance you get it. And as bad as these are, they're just not likely, and even less likely if you're careful at all.

Re: Alpha-Gal Syndrome

#10

Post by sumthinprofound » Tue, Jun 22, 2021, 4:44 AM UTC

As someone allergic to penicillin, I've wondered if there is any residual trace in meat, and possible implications, given that animal feed contains antibiotics that include penicillin.