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Tick cause red meat allergy

RedCloud

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North Central Ohio
Found this article this morning and was the first I had heard about it so thought I would post it here just incase nobody else knew about it.

http://news.msn.com/us/bad-bite-a-tick-can-make-you-allergic-to-red-meat

Here's how it happens: The bugs harbor a sugar that humans don't have, called alpha-gal. The sugar is also is found in red meat — beef, pork, venison, rabbit — and even some dairy products. It's usually fine when people encounter it through food that gets digested.

But a tick bite triggers an immune system response, and in that high-alert state, the body perceives the sugar the tick transmitted to the victim's bloodstream and skin as a foreign substance, and makes antibodies to it. That sets the stage for an allergic reaction the next time the person eats red meat and encounters the sugar.
 

RedCloud

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17,381
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North Central Ohio
I have been bitten by ticks over the years and have not had any ill side effects but bugs are changing so anything is possible I guess. Just take mosquitos for instance. Been bitten countless times over my lifetime with nothing like the west Nile, malaria, or this new chikungunya crap. However, it only takes just once by the right one to cause an issue.
Lyme disease and rocky mountain spotted fever along with this new lonestar tick issue causing an allergy are just bugs changing. I also wonder if what we are doing on a daily basis isn't causing some of the issues. Like all the things we use that have anti this and anti that in it our bodies don't know how to fight common things anymore.

Just something to think and know about I guess.
 

hickslawns

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Could be Redcloud. Everything has to evolve/change to survive it seems. Notice how staph infections seem like they are more prevalent? My wife is an RN. She said it has to do with the over-prescribing of antibiotics. This weakens the immune system to fighting stuff on it's own. A high percentage of people carry staph infection in their bodies. When you have taken too many antibiotics, it gets to the point where the body can't fight the staph on its own. Thus increased staph infections. Now, please don't quote me on getting her explanation exactly right. I could have screwed up the explanation a bit. My point is, maybe we were always susceptible to these things? As humans, medicines, and the ticks evolve and adapt, we are less able to fight off the ill effects?
 

Derek j

Senior Member
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Knox Co.
Your right Phil. ...The main problem with over - use of antibiotics is the formation of "super-infections. People take the biotics until they feel better, then discontinue them without taking the full course. This supresses, but does not kill the bad bacteria. In the meantime, the bacteria develops an antibody to the antibiotic, then comes back full force with a new defense system. That's why some people can't shake a sickness.....Their bodies immune system is depleted anyways, and the bug they have has developed antibodies to the antibiotics. Sometimes it's better for your body to fight things alone...With no pharmaceutical help. This allows your body to make its own antigens to bacteria and viruses.