A Beef With Ticks

Some people avoid red meat for heart health. Others avoid it for ethical reasons. This week Lynne will tell you why there are also people who avoid red meat so they don’t go into anaphylactic shock. Keep your epi-pen and your bug spray close on hand while you learn about a strange immune response to a ubiquitous arachnid. 

Special note: Dr. Helen Shui is truly a doctor, but is working under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. Dr. Lynne Kramer is using her real name. 

Music by Helen Shui and Caplixo. Cover art by Lynne Kramer. 

Sources:

1. 'It put him into full-blown cardiac arrest:' Tick bite changes Columbia County man's life by Heather Crawford

2. Alpha-Gal: Radiolab October 27, 2016

3. Return of Alpha-Gal: Radiolab December 10, 2021

4. Meet the Doc Who Discovered the Infamous Red Meat Allergy Spread by Ticks by Wesley P. Hester

5. MMWR, Health Care Provider Knowledge Regarding Alpha-gal Syndrome — United States, March–May 2022

6. Doctors often miss symptoms of meat allergy linked to lone star ticks, CDC finds by Erika Edwards

7. Alpha-gal Syndrome | Ticks | CDC 

8. Products That May Contain Alpha-gal | Ticks | CDC 

9. B Cell Responses in the Development of Mammalian Meat Allergy by Jessica L. Chandrasekhar, Kelly M. Cox, and Loren D. Erickson

10. Diagnosis and management of patients with the α-Gal syndrome by TAE Platts-Mills, MD,PhD, RC Li, DO,PhD, B Keshavarz, PhD, AR Smith, MD, and JM Wilson, MD,PhD

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