How a Single Tick Bite Can Change Your Life
“Meat Allergy” caused by tick bites
Since the dawn of time, humans have consumed meat to grow and reproduce. Some people today even consider meat to be a necessary part of their diet, whether it be for pure enjoyment or to ensure optimal physical health. Now, imagine being a meat-lover and finding yourself feeling faint after enjoying a juicy succulent steak for dinner. Your eyes start to get blurry, and the next thing you know you’re in an ER room. Amy Pearl lived this hypothetical situation. All her life, Amy loved meat, yet one day, her body refused to tolerate it in her system. Every time she consumed meat, her body would go into anaphylactic shock. Frustrated and confused, she searched for a doctor that could explain her strange meat allergy. No one had an answer for her until a new cancer drug known as cetuximab was released for use.
Patients who received this drug found themselves experiencing multiple allergic reactions, similar to those with the supposed “meat allergy”. It turns out that these patients all had antibodies for an enzyme called alpha galactosidase (alpha-gal) in their blood. Both red meat and cetuximab contained alpha-gal, thus leading to the question, “How did people gain these antibodies?” Through multiple studies, scientists found that the distribution of alpha-gal antibodies has a correlation with the distribution for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. This observation was a key in making the final connection. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is caused by a virus which is carried by ticks, and 80% of those who reported having red meat allergies also reported having a tick bite.
Though there is no definitive evidence of the causation, it seems that tick bites can cause humans to reject alpha-gal within their systems, triggering an immune response. Sydney allergy specialist Sheryl van Nunen disclosed his views by saying,
“It’s the complete package. We’ve got the provoking factor – something that changes the immune system — which is the tick.”
Currently, there is no cure for this syndrome, and there are still many mysteries surrounding the phenomenon. For example, why are people suddenly developing this allergy now even though the tick has been around for centuries? Why do only a certain number of people recover from this syndrome? Though a “meat allergy” may sound silly today, when will it start to be a public concern? Amy’s experience has shown the world that a single tick could take away a privilege that our evolutionary forebears have had within a matter of a seconds, and the fact that a small insect can have such an impact on an individual presents to the world that size isn’t everything.
