This tick may play a part in gumming up your arteries
The bite of a lone star tick is also blamed for triggering red meat allergies
It sounds bonkers that a tick bite might make meat eaters allergic to their steaks and ribs, but it’s true. Now new research has added a potential twist: The source of this tick-related sensitivity to red meat may also be linked to coronary artery disease.
A bite from the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, can trigger antibodies to a sugar called alpha-gal, found in many mammals but not humans. For some of the tick-bitten, that produces an allergic reaction to alpha-gal in red meats like beef and pork. A new study also finds that heart patients with the antibodies had more plaque buildup in their artery walls. Of 118 people with coronary artery disease, 31 who tested positive for the antibodies had about 25 percent more plaque in their artery walls than those who were negative, researchers report in the July Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.