Show 1031: Could a Tick Bite Make You Allergic to Burgers?

How Helpful Is It to Lower Cholesterol?

This week, the American College of Cardiology met and revealed surprising data on some new studies. What is the best way to lower cholesterol? Do healthy people get any benefit from taking cholesterol-lowering drugs?

Could a Tick Bite Make You Allergic to Burgers?

About a decade ago, immunologists discovered that people who had been bitten by a lone star tick, common throughout the southeastern United States, could experience a dangerous allergic reaction to eating meat. Beef, pork and lamb might all be problematic. But figuring the connection out was complicated, because reactions are usually delayed many hours after eating a burger or barbecue on a bun. We talk with a specialist about how she diagnoses alpha-gal allergy and how it should be treated.

This Week’s Guests:

Robert DuBroff, MD, is associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. He is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology and has a specialty in lipidology. His article was published in the American Journal of Medicine.

Maya Jerath, MD, PhD, is board certified in Internal Medicine and Allergy and Immunology. She is head of the UNC Allergy and Immunology Clinic at the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She sees patients with a wide range of allergic and immunologic disorders, including rare and hard-to-diagnose conditions. She has a special interest in food allergy, eosinophilic esophagitis, and immunotherapy, and a specialized clinical interest in the diagnosis and management of alpha-gal meat allergy.