"Imagine suddenly becoming allergic to a hamburgeror a steak or bacon or even certain cosmetics and medications. It's happening to a growing number of people across the U.S. and around the world. And the culprit is a tiny tick bite. Alpha-gal syndrome is one of the strangest allergies we know of: it's a tick-bite-triggered sensitivity to a sugar molecule found in the meat and fat of almost all nonhuman mammals."
"The molecule, the sugar molecule, is called alpha-gal—that's why it's called alpha-gal syndrome. And this sugar is found primarily in red meats, so people sometimes call it a red meat allergy, which isn't quite true because it's in [almost all] meat products that are not human. And people have to really change their lifestyle when they are diagnosed with this allergy."
Alpha-gal syndrome is a tick-bite-triggered allergy to a sugar molecule called alpha-gal. The alpha-gal sugar occurs primarily in the meat and fat of most nonhuman mammals. Affected people can suddenly become allergic to hamburgers, steak, bacon, and some cosmetics and medications. Diagnosis and management often require significant and sometimes permanent lifestyle and dietary changes. Warmer winters and expanding tick populations are increasing the number of affected people in the U.S. and globally. The condition was difficult to identify initially and is frequently labeled simply as a red meat allergy despite broader presence in nonhuman products.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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