It's tick season

[ergophobe]

I have had a few friends have their lives completely upended by Lyme. I've had others get treated early and have no long-term issues.

This is worth a read
https://peterattiamd.com/tick-prevention/

I think the tick is the animal I most fear in the outdoors. My "outdoor" fears, in order:
- ticks
- rattlesnakes
- mountain lions

[rcjordan]

- ticks
- snakes
- Alpha Gal red meat allergy

We've had a few diabetics (hikers) come into /r with alpha gal. Their diet choices are, ummm, slim.

[ergophobe]

Forgot about Alpha Gal. That's mostly out your way, but that is indeed pretty bad.

I thought I heard there were some folks breeding (or genetically engineering) pigs or cattle without Alpha Gal. I'm sure it's easy to find at your local Safeway

[ergophobe]

Yes, A-G-free pigs. See #7

https://www.thermofisher.com/allergy/us/en/living-with-allergies/food-allergies/10-new-and-surprising-facts-about-alpha-gal-syndrome.html

And
https://www.porkbusiness.com/news/industry/fda-approves-first-its-kind-intentional-genomic-alteration-pigs

[buckworks]

I had not heard of Alpha Gal until this thread. Something to find out more about!

[ergophobe]

I thought it was some ridiculous conspiracy theory when I first heard about it.

Same with the brain amoeba you can get from using a neti pot without sufficient sterilization.

You know, the best friend I ever had was a dog
It sounds like a cliche unless it's happened to you
Some days that dog was the only reason I even got out of bed
That dog went everywhere with me
And then I heard the crack addicts
Were stealin' dogs and selling them for animal research
It sounded like an urban myth to me
Like the mouse in the Coke bottle
But I started leavin' her at home after that

 -- Dan Bern, "Estelle"

[rcjordan]

>neti pot without sufficient sterilization

That was yet another "Do-Not-Do-This" dispensed by the transplant doc when I was checking out of the hospital.  My thought at the time: "Wow. These guys are really paranoid. What are the chances??"

[ergophobe]

It's always a risk/reward question. I decided that putting non-sterile water up my nose was not that important to me. Nor, for that matter, was eating runny eggs.

Tick checks, also easy, but I missed one the other day and got an infected bite and did the doxycycline - again, a risk/reward thing, but a much bigger PITA than simply avoiding squirting non-sterile water up my nose.

I'm on the fence about the Covid vaccine after my experiences, but if they release a Lyme vaccine, I will line up with the same hope and enthusiasm I did for the first Covid vaccine.

https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/about/lyme-disease-vaccine.html

Unfortunately Kennedy no doubt thinks the vaccine is dangerous and probably spreads the conspiracy theory that Lyme was invented in a military lab on Long Island in the 1970s. My physician neighbor believes this.

For the record, they find the Lyme bacterium in pre-Columbian samples in North America

[rcjordan]

Chronic Lyme disease: is the narrative finally shifting? | LymeDisease.org

This week, The Wall Street Journal published a story with the striking headline: "Chronic Lyme disease was once dismissed. More doctors are coming around."

https://www.lymedisease.org/is-lyme-narrative-finally-shifting/

[ergophobe]

As the cases pile up, it's inevitable that the narrative will change. It's been a long road for chronic sufferers. The first person I knew who had chronic Lyme had to travel to find one of the few experts and none of it was covered by insurance. But proper treatment got his life back both professionally and in terms of sports.

In the end, he switched from engineering to medicine (as a Physician's Assistant) after his long ordeal

His treatment was exactly the high-dose, long-term, IV antibiotics discussed by the article.

[rcjordan]

That moment I realized.... I've been doing the tick pulling all wrong!

https://old.reddit.com/r/interesting/comments/1mhcivz/that_moment_i_realized_ive_been_doing_the_tick/

[ergophobe]

It looks like those ticks are not embedded yet. I think I need a better video before I go out and buy the bird.

[rcjordan]

"Red meat allergy" from tick bites is spreading both in US and globally - Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/08/red-meat-allergy-from-tick-bites-is-spreading-both-in-us-and-globally/

While it's commonly called the "red meat allergy," that nickname is misleading, because alpha-gal syndrome can cause strong reactions to many products, beyond just red meat.

Often this allergy is triggered by eating red meat. But the allergy also can be set off by exposure to a range of other animal-based products, including dairy products, gelatin (think Jell-O or gummy bears), medications, and even some personal care items. The drug heparin, used to prevent blood clotting during surgery, is extracted from pig intestines, and its use has triggered a dangerous reaction in some people with alpha-gal syndrome.

[rcjordan]

Met a local with Alpha Gal (confirmed by local Doc). She's upset.  "I LOVE a good rib-eye!  ...and now..."

[rcjordan]

My afternoon feed.  ^{No, I am not positive-filtering for ticks or alpha gal.}

Meat, dairy allergies from tick bites "skyrocketing" on Martha's Vineyard, expert says - CBS Boston

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/tick-allergy-meat-dairy-marthas-vineyard/