Disclaimer: If you are currently experiencing anaphylactic symptoms, please call 911 or self-administer epinephrine. Our clinic helps with the management of this illness and does not substitute for emergency care in a life-threatening situation.
Alpha-Gal or “Meat” Allergy
We are unique amongst healthcare providers in the Springfield, Missouri area because we intimately understand the unusual “alpha-gal” or tick bite-induced red meat allergy. Patients contract the allergy after being bitten by the Lone Star tick., and they often experience potentially life threatening reactions three to six hours after ingesting anything mammalian, including beef, pork, venison, lamb, and rabbit. We have seen clinically that patients can experience a range of other symptoms affecting the gastrointestinal, gynecological, immune, cardiac, and even neurologic systems. Dr. Roberts’ own daughter contracted the allergy five years ago, so she understands how it can impact every aspect of life. She also knows what measures can be taken to live with and manage the condition. She has lectured nationally to other physicians on allergy and allergy testing, and we see patients from Seattle to Florida at our clinic. While some travel to our physical location, we also use telemedicine frequently.
Depicted is the “Lone Star” tick common in the southern US that has recently migrated further north. Its bite induces the alpha-gal allergy in some patients.
The medical field has yet to fully understand this non-traditional allergy, so many patients report being prescribed medications or given injections with red-meat derived ingredients like gelatin. The allergy can also cause reactions to red meat fumes, lotions containing glycerin, and myriad other items containing animal by-products that we come into contact with in our daily lives. Many patients have to learn these things from online forums or personal experience with reactions that can be life-threatening, but in our clinic, we have had such extensive experience with this condition that we can educate you at the beginning of your journey with alpha-gal, preventing months or years of continuing health problems. If you suspect you might have alpha-gal or have been recently diagnosed, we hope to be of service to you and offer an understanding, friendly place to find relief. We offer several types of therapy that help calm the allergic response and steady the system for better health and prevention of flares moving forward. Such care, combined with tick bite prevention, can help improve your chances that the allergy will fade in the future.
How the Allergy Works
The “alpha-gal” allergy is a reaction to red meat and all mammalian-derived products that is frequently misdiagnosed and has yet to be fully understood, though much research has been done since it began rising in prevalence over the last ten years. It is induced by a tick bite from the “Lone Star Tick” that was formerly widespread in the southern United States but has migrated even to northern areas. It is difficult to diagnose because unlike most allergies, it involves a delayed reaction to red meat ingestion that occurs three to six hours after a meal. Many patients report awakening in the middle of the night with allergic reactions, and sometimes life-threatening anaphylactic symptoms, that can seem unexplainable. The allergy is also unusual because it is a reaction to a carbohydrate rather than a protein, which is the usual mechanism for IgE or anaphylactic allergies. For more information about the history of the allergy’s discovery and its biological function within the body, click here to reference UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine’s researcher Dr. Scott Commins.
Patients can experience a range of symptoms from gastrointestinal issues like diarrhea and cramping to life-threatening anaphylaxis, which causes swelling of the airway, low blood pressure and often loss of consciousness. Some patients report experiencing cardiac symptoms like palpitations and chest pain. The only way to stop these reactions is complete avoidance of red meat, including beef, pork, venison, lamb, bison, goat, rabbit, and any other mammal. Many patients report reacting to diary products because these contain a small amount of alpha-gal. The most difficult component of this diet is avoiding animal by-products, which include beef broth, gelatin—prevalent in supplements, medications, vaccines, candy, and other food items—bovine-derived magnesium stearate or glycerin, and sheep-derived lanolin, which is often present in food items or Vitamin D supplements. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but one that we have compiled from Dr. Roberts’ family experience with the condition. In our clinical experience with multiple alpha-gal patients, we have found that some will have one or more other foods besides the red meat/dairy that cause anaphylaxis—sometimes foods eaten on the day they developed the allergy, and other times simply a common food that has become cross-reactive. We offer functional gastrointestinal therapy and testing that can help calm these reactions and prevent development of further allergies in an inflamed alpha-gal patient.