1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio Hey 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Bogelbaum. Here the food allergies are a bummer, 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: but for meat lovers, Alpha gal syndrome, also called mammalian 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:20,759 Speaker 1: meat allergy, is something of a tragedy. Alpha gal is 5 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: the name of a sugar molecule found in most mammals, 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: but not in humans and not in fish, birds, or reptiles. 7 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: The scientists in the United States first began seeing allergic 8 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,199 Speaker 1: reactions to red meat in the nineteen nineties, which they 9 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: traced specifically to alpha gal. By two thousand six, cases 10 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: have been confirmed in thirty nine States, and we're also 11 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: popping up in Australia. Alpha gal syndrome causes a mild 12 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: too severe allergy to the meat of mammals such as cows, pigs, sheep, rabbits, deer, 13 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: and others, as well as mammal products like gelatine and dairy. 14 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: Its symptoms include a lot of the usual allergy symptoms, hives, running, nose, 15 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: nausea and vomiting, a swelling of the eyelids, lips, throat, 16 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: and tongue, shortness of breath, and possibly anaphylaxis, which is 17 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: a severe body wide allergic reaction. But people don't just 18 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: come down with alpha gal syndrome for no reason. It's 19 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: just the most recently discovered in dignity, brought on by 20 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: the arachnid that seems to ruin everything it touches, the tick. 21 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: It took scientists a few years to discover how exactly 22 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: people were becoming allergic to meet but by two thousand 23 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: nine they've narrowed the cause down to the bite of 24 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: the lone startick, discovered by a scientist who noticed that 25 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: the map of the cases of alpha gal allergy overlapped 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: almost perfectly with the distribution of the tick, which lives 27 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: in much of the eastern US and Mexico. A lone 28 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: star ticks look very much like any other North American tick, 29 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: except the females have a white spot is sometimes shaped 30 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: a bit like a star on their backs. In Australia, 31 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: alpha GL sensitivity has been linked to the hard bodied 32 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: paralysis tick. Both ticks probably pick up the alpha gal 33 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: when they consume the blood of those other mammals that 34 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: have it, like cows or sheep. In order to develop 35 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: a sensitivity to alpha gal, a tick must attach to 36 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: you only long enough to leave a bite mark and 37 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: inject alpha gal into the skin. After that, your immune 38 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: system takes over and destroys the invasive sugar molecules, which 39 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: is all well and good, except that your immune system 40 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:35,639 Speaker 1: then remembers those molecules as being potentially harmful invaders. So 41 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,239 Speaker 1: the next time that you have a nice steak for dinner, 42 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: your immune system may clock the alpha gel that you 43 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,799 Speaker 1: ingested and release antibodies that trigger the release of histamines 44 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: to fight off the sugar, which it doesn't understand is harmless. 45 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: One unusual thing about an alpha gel allergy is that 46 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: the allergic reaction might not pick in for three to 47 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: four hours after eating red meat, so it can be 48 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: one of the more difficult allergies to trace to the source. 49 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: As always with tick born conditions, prevention is the best 50 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: policy if you're going outdoors in a place where ticks 51 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: are known to live, and especially into what an area 52 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: is there where long sleeved shirts and pants and apply 53 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: insect repellent. Today's episode is based on the article Alpa 54 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: gal syndro the meat allergy Caused by a tick on 55 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: houseworks dot com, written by Jesselyn Shield. The brain stuff 56 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: is production of by heart radio in partnership with ustaf 57 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: works dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. For 58 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: more podcasts My Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 59 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.