In your telegram channel Alexander Myasnikov talked about allergies to meat. He noted that the scientific name for the phenomenon is alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), also known as alpha-gal allergy or mammalian meat allergy.
This is a carbohydrate that is present in the cell membranes of most mammals – the only exception is humans.
Meat allergies have their own characteristics, the doctor emphasized. “Its manifestations begin much later than ordinary food allergies – after 6-8 hours. Therefore, many do not associate their symptoms specifically with meat consumption. And the symptoms can be very severe, even fatal!” warns Myasnikov.
Unexpectedly, but true, doctors often don’t even know about this type of reaction. As an example, Myasnikov cited American doctors – 1,200 doctors surveyed and 42% said they had never even heard of this type of allergy. Hence the problems with accurate statistics – they are noticeably lower than they might actually be. “Even according to available statistics, among patients with food allergies, up to 15% of children and 3% of adults are allergic to meat, that is, alpha-gal syndrome,” explains the doctor.
It is important to understand that a person can react to any type of meat – pork, beef, lamb, game. The list is completed by seals and whales.
What are the risk factors?
Dr. Myasnikov listed the main risk factors that may indicate that a person will experience an allergy to meat:
- A reaction to dairy products, so 20% of children with a milk allergy also have meat intolerance.
- Tick bites – a dangerous carbohydrate is found in the saliva of a bloodsucker and leads to the fact that a person becomes hypersensitive to subsequent exposure to an allergen when eating meat.
Treatment with monoclonal bodies is a specific option, but there are risks.
Cross-allergy: Those who have a reaction to feline albumin may experience a severe reaction to pork. “Please note – not an allergy to cats (fur, epithelium) in general, but specifically to albumin contained in cat blood. At the same time, many people do not know that they have such an allergy,” Myasnikov emphasized.
Before treating such an allergy, it is imperative to understand the causes and make a correct diagnosis, confirming the suspicion of alpha-gal syndrome in the laboratory. Naturally, you will have to exclude meat from your diet that causes an attack, and not necessarily all of it. It also happens that a person with an allergy to lamb calmly eats beef or vice versa.
The following sources were used in preparing the material:
TG-channel Dr. Myasnikova
Source: aif.ru
