What is Alphagal?

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Alphagal, Alpha-Gal, Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), Acquired red meat allergy, mamallian meat allergy (MMA) are all the same thing. What happened is a teeny female Lone Star Tick (US) or Paralysis Tick (Australia) bit you and now you're allergic to red meat. If you want the technical or scientific explanation, do a search for it.

But what exactly does that mean? Well, it will start with whatever you last ate. Ate a beef burger, you're allergic to beef. If you had a pork chop, you're allergic to pork. You get the idea.

However (I know a scary word), it is a progressive disease (even scarier, sorry). You will find that more and more "meats" make you sick.

So, how do you know you have it? Well, there is a blood test your primary care doctor can order, but generally you have the symptoms after either eating "meat" or if someone cross contaminated your food.

Symptoms vary a bit by person but nausea or abdominal pain 20 minutes to 8 hours after you eat is a good indication you might have Alphagal. Most of the people in our area report those symptoms the most (as we talk to people)

 Desensitization MIGHT be a viable treatment if caught soon enough. We have heard of 1 (one) person in our area that this has "worked" on.