51黑料

Alpha-gal syndrome is different. Alpha-gal is an allergy to meat.

First discovered around 2008, alpha-gal syndrome is specifically an allergy to a carbohydrate molecule found in all lower mammals, according to Maya Jerath, a Washington University allergist and immunologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Lower mammals, she said, are 鈥渇our-legged, furry creatures,鈥� everything from cats and dogs to rabbits, squirrels, cows, sheep, pigs and deer.

Basically, if it鈥檚 meat it has the alpha-gal molecule in it. Poultry, fish and seafood do not. Neither, for that matter, do humans and other primates.

Technically, the molecule is called galactose-伪-1,3-galactose. You can see why they shorten it to alpha-gal.

People who have alpha-gal syndrome are liable to suffer anything from hives and rashes to severe gastrointestinal nastiness to a sharp drop in blood pressure when they eat meat products. Jerath said she is not aware of anyone who has died of it, but anaphylactic shock is always a possibility with an allergy.

It鈥檚 not just the meat that brings on the reaction. Dairy products, too, carry the alpha-gal molecule, because they come from four-legged mammals, and so does gelatin, which is made from the hooves of cows and pigs. Marshmallows, which are made from gelatin, can set off a reaction, and so can Jell-O.

In some cases, 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 resemble the food you鈥檙e trying to avoid, so it is hard to avoid it,鈥� Jerath said.

For instance, people with the syndrome can think they鈥檙e safe ordering vegetable soup in a restaurant, but it could be made with a beef broth, she said. They think they can eat chicken or turkey sausage with impunity, but the casing is often made from pork.

Lard is used in baking. Beef fat is used in flavorings and cooking oil.

鈥淭o make it safe for people, you have to have an understanding of food 鈥� which, unfortunately, a lot of people don鈥檛 have,鈥� Jerath said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 tell you what鈥檚 in half the stuff I eat.鈥�

Alpha-gal syndrome was first discovered in Virginia when a patient had an allergic reaction to an intravenous chemotherapy treatment. A doctor, Thomas Platts-Mills, discovered that as many as 20% of patients receiving the same treatment had similar reactions in Missouri and North Carolina, but not the rest of the country.

Platts-Mills studied the blood of the patients who had the reaction and discovered they had high numbers of antibodies to alpha-gal, which was in the medication. Similar complaints started coming in from people who were eating meat, but only from a region encompassing the Mid-Atlantic states, south to Florida and west to Missouri.

Someone looked at the map of places where people came down with alpha-gal syndrome and realized it was the same area that is the habitat for the lone star tick.

鈥淲e think that ticks play a role, but we don鈥檛 100% know how people get this allergy. The theory is that tick and chigger bites play a role in it,鈥� Jerath said.

If you can avoid tick bites, you should be able to avoid alpha-gal syndrome. If you do get it, you may have to change your eating habits.

But all is not hopeless, Jerath said. If people with the syndrome can keep from getting more tick bites, the allergy will probably fade away after a few years. That鈥檚 because the allergy is to a carbohydrate 鈥� a sugar 鈥� instead of a protein, and the body forms a longer lasting response to proteins than to sugar.

In addition, the patient鈥檚 diet might not have to be changed as radically as it sounds.

鈥淭he good news is the amount of alpha-gal in dairy is much less than it is in meat. Most of my patients can tolerate dairy products and gelatin, but some are more sensitive,鈥� Jerath said.

Despite what some people are saying on social media, people with the syndrome can almost certainly take medicine in gel caps. They can also eat foods made with carrageenan and eat foods and medicines made with magnesium stearate. The amount of alpha-gal in those products is too small to cause a reaction, she said.

Susan Newman of Marthasville has alpha-gal syndrome 鈥� it is more common in rural areas where ticks are likely to live. She is doing what she can to avoid a reaction, but going out to restaurants can be a challenge, she said.

A lot of restaurants don鈥檛 know about the syndrome yet, or are less than fully willing to accommodate people who have it, she said. To play it safe, she has been going to more vegan restaurants, and also ethnic restaurants with a strong tradition of vegetarian food, such as Indian and Thai restaurants.

And she just ordered some packages of ground ostrich and emu.