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Bailey receives rare diagnosis: tick-bite-induced Alpha-Gal Bailey Shepperd’s world has forever changed. With unexplained recurring illness, her doctors, at a loss, finally test for a long shot. Positive results came back for rare allergy, its growing danger first shared in Adair County by Terry Partin at the 2016 Outdoor Expo, the Alpha-Gal Syndrome, MMA. Her mother shares the story of Bailey's journey. By April Yurcevic Shepperd For the past couple of months, Bailey has suffered some serious stomach and digestive issues, including stomach pain, bloating, indigestion, diarrhea, and vomiting. Along with this, she has recurring bad headaches. The symptoms would come and go, so it was hard to pinpoint the problem. We tried eliminating certain foods, dairy, and gluten, but nothing held the key to her issues. Thinking it might be iron overload, we also stopped her daily multi-vitamin. We even suspected the poor girl had parasites or a fungal infection. We couldn’t figure it out and nothing seemed to be helping, so this past week Bai returned to the doctor. He ordered several lab and specimen tests, including an ultra sound of her gallbladder. Everything came back perfectly normal. Then on a long shot, her doctor ordered an off-the-wall test for something pretty rare. That test came back positive. Bai has been diagnosed with Alpha-Gal Syndrome or Mammalian Meat Allergy (MMA). Alpha-gal Syndrome develops after a person has been bitten by a Lone Star Tick. Alpha-gal is not naturally present in apes and humans, but is in all other mammals. When a tick feeds on a mammal, the alpha-gal remains in its alimentary tract. Then, when the tick bites a human, it injects alpha gal into the bloodstream, which in turn causes the immune system to release a flood of immunoglobulin E to fight off the foreigner. After this reaction, the future intake of mammal meat with the same alpha gal will result in an allergic reaction. Instead of the typical rapid onset of symptoms with most food allergies, MMA occurs 3–8 hours after the consumption of mammal meat or mammal products. This was part of the reason we were unable to identify the problem. MMA was only discovered about 10 years ago. Many primary care physicians are not even aware it exists. In fact, it isn’t even listed in medical texts. Along with this, there is no way to know the infection rate since health agencies have not begun to track it. Research and studies are currently underway, but there is very little known about the condition and what the future holds for those infected. We do know it is a life-long condition, although some people seem to be less sensitive over time. Research shows that those who have been bitten by ticks in the past may be more likely to have this allergy. Bailey has had Lyme disease twice, both resulting in Bell’s Palsy. Although she is careful, the truth is that we live in a rural area, we own farm property with a stable and four horses, and she manages and works in an apple orchard. Obviously, it’s pretty hard for her to avoid insects. Although we are relieved to find out what is causing her issues, Bailey’s world has forever changed. She can no longer eat any beef, pork, or other mammal meat. That also includes any mammal product, such as gravies, sausages, or soups. Depending on her personal severity, she may or may not be able to consume milk, cheese, butter, or cream. We won’t know about that until she is tested. Bai has been referred to a specialist at Vanderbilt and we are currently waiting for an appointment date. Through skin and blood tests, the doctor will be able to tell the severity of the disease and guide her in what to do next. She will also be consulting with a dietician. After her experience, Bailey says if there is any way she can help others know about this condition, she is more than willing to talk about her experience. Bailey is the daughter of Guy and April Shepherd of Columbia. This story was posted on 2017-09-27 07:47:52
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