
How a Tick Bite Made Me Allergic to Meat - robg
http://discovermagazine.com/2012/jul-aug/09-how-a-tick-bite-made-me-allergic-to-meat
======
tokenadult
"Helen Chappell is a museum exhibit developer and freelance writer based in
Durham, North Carolina."

I checked the PubMed references kindly included in the submitted article. I
think it's stretching a point beyond recognition to say that anyone has
"proven" that tick bites have anything at all to do with food sensitivities.
Cross-reactivity is often an intriguing theory, as many biochemicals are
present in more than one organism, but this needs a lot more epidemiological
work, and more in-vivo experimental work, before this speculative hypothesis
can be considered an established fact. As always,

<http://norvig.com/experiment-design.html>

check the experiment design (there is no "experiment" here, really, but rather
field observations), check the sample size (small here) and check all the
other issues before taking this as fact. Further research will be needed
before it is clear that anyone is actually developing meat sensitivity BECAUSE
OF tick bites rather than just AFTER tick bites (or after something else that
has nothing at all to do with tick bites).

~~~
ars
Is this what you read?
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3085643/pdf/nihm...](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3085643/pdf/nihms-273885.pdf)

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Shenglong
This might be an entirely irrational fear, but throughout this entire article,
I kept thinking of vegetarian/vegan extremists (and because I need to clarify,
not all vegetarians are extremists, obviously). "What if," I thought, "these
extremists started spreading lone star ticks around the world to further their
ideals?" Historically, people have done some pretty crazy things for what they
believe is right; I just hope intentionally spreading ailments won't be added
to this list.

In any case, here's a video/article I saw two months ago, that summarizes this
article, in case it's tl;dr: [http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/allergic-
meat-lone-sta...](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/allergic-meat-lone-
star-tick-spreading-vegetarianism/story?id=16610228#.UC-4EN2PV08)

~~~
ajays
Whenever there's talk of veg*anism, many people automatically think of
'extremists'. Why is that? As a vegetarian myself, I know I'm not an
extremist; neither are all of my vegetarian friends. Some of them are repelled
by meat, but that is no different than people being repelled by Durian for
example; meat does smell offensive if you're not used to eating it.

~~~
true_religion
By extremists.... He's thinking of vegans out of morality--the type of people
who say meat is murder.

If meat is murder, making people allergic to the fruits of their murder is a
lesser crime.

~~~
skue
If meat is murder then gunning down ranchers and blowing up meeting packing
plants would be justifiable too. But it doesn't happen.

A bunch of non-meat-eaters taking their clothes off for PETA ads or throwing
red paint on fur coats is a loooooooong way from what you are suggesting.
Please come back to reality.

~~~
DanBC
> _blowing up meeting packing plants would be justifiable too. But it doesn't
> happen._

There have been plenty of incendiary devices planted at a variety of UK
locations, including department stores that sold fur.

~~~
ktizo
In that case, why are there not a lot of people dead from this if it is that
prevalent? Either the people you are describing are the most rubbish
terrorists ever, or they are just really not that into killing, which would
make sense really, if their entire political belief is against killing things
in general.

~~~
DanBC
Animal rights extremists have set many fires in England. There are several
reasons why no-one so far has died:

1) We have excellent fire response services

2) We have strict fire safety codes for buildings - those shops should have
had working sprinkler systems for example (and setting off the sprinklers was
the stated aim - water damage would have caused just as much financial damage)

3) Timing the devices to go off at night when there would be minimal people
working

4) The aim is not to kill people, but to cause financial loss. ALF have been
successful at that.

There are other reasons why few people have been physically harmed by animal
rights extremists - most extremists are "non violent" (where violence applies
to people, but not property).

The wikipedia article for the ALF is reasonably complete.

------
charlieflowers
I am more concerned than ever to learn the best ways to protect myself from
tick bites. I was already concerned because of the life-changing impact of
lyme disease.

I am currently travelling the U.S. in an RV, and I do a lot of
hiking/biking/camping in remote areas. I'm sure a lot of other HN readers do
as well.

What are some of the best proven ways to keep ticks off of yourself?

~~~
timeuser
Permethrin treated clothing is the best deterrent I've used. Deet doesn't do
much in my experience but if ticks get on pants treated with permethrin they
get off as quick as they can. I've use this spray to treat my clothing before
going out in the woods anymore: [http://www.rei.com/product/768970/sawyer-
permethrin-pump-spr...](http://www.rei.com/product/768970/sawyer-permethrin-
pump-spray-24-oz)

~~~
rosser
One thing to be very, very careful of with permethrin-treated clothing is that
it's very water-soluble, and _extremely_ toxic to fish. If you go swimming
while wearing permethrin-treated clothing, you will leave a trail of death in
your wake, and not just of the bugs you were hoping to kill...

~~~
pmiller2
I feel compelled to note that it's also quite toxic to cats (but not dogs).
This is one reason you should never use flea products intended for dogs on
your cat.

------
kmfrk

        Having grown up in the woods, I’m so used to tick bites
        that I don’t even notice them half the time. But I
        remember this particular bite because it left an itchy
        welt behind that lasted for weeks after I’d tweezed out
        the tick itself. Long-lasting, itchy welts, I now know,
        are one of the hallmarks of an allergy-causing tick bite.
    

So this guy went weeks with a tick bite without seeking medical assistance?(!)

Maybe American ticks are different, but I'd always advise people to talk to
their GP and get some antibiotics.

~~~
wazoox
It's the usual advice when you're living in places where you don't meet (if
ever) ticks. I rarely get tick bites where I live (once or twice a year), but
in 2005 during our summer vacation we had to remove 10 to 20 ticks from every
member of the family, every day, for two weeks. In these areas when you ask
the pharmacy what to do, they just tell you to use a special tick remover and
disinfectant... people there can't live getting antibiotics all year round.

Apparently, woodlands where there are lots of deer and/or sheep grazing around
are infested with ticks. There's nothing much you can do.

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pavel_lishin
If it's an allergy to a sugar present in mammalian meat, how does the body not
become allergic to itself?

~~~
ciupicri
By the way, there are quite a few autoimmune diseases[1] where the body
attacks parts of it. Some examples: psoriasis (affects the skin), celiac
disease (small intestine), rheumatoid arthritis (joints), multiple scleroris
(nerves), Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_disease#Classificati...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_disease#Classification)

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olouv
I would not call your ammonia-treated pink-slime mixed from hundred cows
actual "meat". you should try some real food, even organic maybe.

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chaostheory
There is a bright side: factory meat farms are responsible for a lot of
pollution. I would think any reduction in demand for cheaply produced meat
would have environmental benefits.

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zzzeek
wow don't show this to PETA

