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Alpha-gal syndrome is a tick-borne disease that involves an allergy to mammalian products such as red meat.

Anxiety is a common side effect of alpha-gal syndrome, affecting up to 3 in 5 individuals with the condition.

Food allergy anxiety is under researched and can be more complicated to treat than other anxiety disorders.

Mental health screening in high-risk areas and piloting behavioral therapy for alpha gal are promising.

I first learned about alpha-gal syndrome in the back corner of a tavern in Southwest Virginia as my aunt carefully unwrapped cellophane from a turkey sandwich she’d just pulled from her handbag. We were at a family birthday party, seated near an inviting spread of wood-fired pizzas laid out for guests. She noticed my quizzical look at the deli turkey. “It’s because of alpha-gal,” she said, and produced a small stack of printed papers from the same handbag. “I made these to give out at restaurants and to my doctors, because so many people still don’t know about it.”

As I scanned the homemade flyer and listened to my aunt’s stories, what I learned sounded like something from a sci-fi novel. Tick bites can lead to developing a severe, even life-threatening allergic reaction to mammalian products? The disease is spreading across Southern Appalachia such that not one, but two of my aunts had developed meat allergies in the past year? My aunt was surprisingly matter-of-fact as she explained the list of products she had to avoid (beef, pork, dairy) as well as her trips to the emergency room when she’d unknowingly ingested them. As I finished my second slice of meatlovers, I couldn’t help but think that she was coping remarkably well with this life-changing new allergy.

What Is Alpha-Gal Syndrome?

Alpha-gal syndrome is a tick-borne, allergic disease. The sugar molecule called “alpha-gal” (galactose-α-1,3-galactose) is produced by many non-primate mammals and some pests, particularly lone star ticks. If this tick bites a human, it can transfer these molecules to the bloodstream, causing the immune system to react when that person is further exposed to the alpha-gal molecule in mammalian products. Not all individuals bitten by an alpha-gal-carrying tick will develop alpha-gal syndrome. Many will become asymptomatically sensitized; they will not have any allergic reactions after eating red meat, but could be at risk of developing an allergy to mammalian products in the future.

Several factors make alpha-gal syndrome confusing and difficult to diagnose compared with other food allergies. Unlike traditional........

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