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Red Meat Allergies Caused By Tick Bites Are On The Rise (npr.org)

Tick bites can cause all sorts of nasty afflictions. And if you're bitten by a Lone Star tick, here's one more to add to the list: a red meat allergy. NPR reports: About 10 years ago, Dr. Scott Commins, an allergist and associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was among the first physicians to identify the allergy in patients with tick bites. Back then, there were just a few dozen known cases. That has increased dramatically. "We're confident the number is over 5,000 [cases], and that's in the U.S. alone," Commins says. There are also cases in Sweden, Germany and Australia -- likely linked to other species of ticks. In the U.S., the Lone Star tick has expanded its range beyond the Southeast, and there are documented cases of alpha gal meat allergies farther north -- including New York, Maine and Minnesota. "The range of the tick is expanding," says Commins. So is awareness about the red meat allergy it can cause. "We have a blood test, and the word is getting out."

125 comments

  1. Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Finally, an issue to bridge the divide. Left, Right, liberal, conservative, let us all band together and exterminate this blight.

    Not you though, vegans. Nobody likes you.

    1. Re:Let the healing begin by Immerman · · Score: 5, Funny

      >Not you though, vegans. Nobody likes you.

      You've cracked it, right there. There is no "lone star tick induced meat allergy" - it's just a convenient cover story to allow people to survive being vegetarian in Texas. :-D

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    2. Re:Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not you though, vegans. Nobody likes you.

      Isn't that the other way 'round? I mean it's the vegans that like nobody (human)?

      I remember this story being discussed a couple of years ago on the Grauniad and the vegan contingent were literally cheering people suffering severe allergic reactions to red meat.

    3. Re: Let the healing begin by bestweasel · · Score: 1

      Not you though, vegans. Nobody likes you.

      Here we see that what really irritates meat eaters, far more than ticks, are vegans. I guess it's the tiny prickings of conscience.

    4. Re: Let the healing begin by PseudoAnon · · Score: 3, Informative

      You had a great comment until you demonstrated the holier-than-thou attitude that leads people to dislike vegans as a group.

      People are more receptive to what others have to say when the people trying to spread behavioral change don't preach about being better than everyone else.

    5. Re: Let the healing begin by bestweasel · · Score: 1

      I should have said "a few meat eaters", specifically those who denigrate vegans. It seems like many of them protest too much and appear to be trying to convince themselves as much as their audience, similar to some of those holy men who loudly extol family values. I don't speak for vegans, I'm not a vegan.

    6. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish I could cut down my meat consumption, but every time I try, some veggie hippie prances around yapping about conscience, nature and such things. The best response to that is to have a steak.

      Don't get me wrong; I like animals, I don't want them to suffer. I like even veggies, but I also like meat. I really don't have any "conscience" problems killing animals for food, specially if they taste good.

      Every time one of you "holier than thou" cunts have one of your "tell other people that you are better than them"-moments, my next meal includes meat. That also effectively nullifies many rational efforts on promoting food without meat, but this kind of pissing contest prioritizes higher. With help of modern medicine, I can live full lifespan waving my middle finger to you while having a nice steak.

    7. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We all know that all the fish and ocean wildlife you vegans kill every year as well as you sucking the very life out of Gaia isn't even a concept that is capable to compute in your malfunctioning brains. Perhaps a few doses of healthy fat will get those neurons firing so your brain can function a little more than a quarter of your IQ.

    8. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it makes you feel any better, just remember that Vegans have no problem killing vast numbers of plants.

    9. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To sum up this thread: meat-eaters are --TRIGGERED--
      Here, have a tissue.

    10. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Be honest now, you've never actually known any vegans irl.

    11. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Somehow Vegetarians get by unscathed in this thread. I guess people get defensive when you point out they're still breastfeeding as a fully grown adult. Maybe they should eat their veggies like their mama told them and they wouldn't need to.

    12. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not directing this comment directly at you, since you've said you aren't actually a vegan anyway, but I'll tell you where my complain with veganism comes from: the hypocrisy.

      They are happy to tell you that they live a cruelty free life of smug self assurance that there is no blood on their hands. What they don't acknowledge is that modern farming practices (we're talking grains and other vegetables here) result in tremendous loss of animal life. Field mice, ground nesting birds, deer fawns, and innumerable other little woodland creatures fall victim to the combines and tractors that are used to grow those wholesome, morally just vegetables.

      The hypocrisy goes deeper than that, but honestly that's the main part that causes me to write off almost everything a vegan says as a need to feel special or superior.

    13. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree. Keep in mind though that the same can be said about some of the vegans.

    14. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to mention the non-vegan clothes, cosmetica and other things that are being used by self-acclaimed "true vegans".

      Vegan is not only about what you eat. It's about what you consume.

    15. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the US, nearly 70% of grain is used to feed livestock.
      http://www.globalissues.org/article/240/beef

    16. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if your personal pleasure is a deciding factor in weighting ethical problems, you may not, in fact, have a conscience

    17. Re:Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It isn't a "red meat" allergy and it isn't a "meat" allergy. I know a guy who got this and it is an allergy to *mammal* meat, excepting simian. For example, pork is not "red meat" but causes the reaction, however monkey meat does not.

      This is really fucked up and little understood. The guy I know suffered for a while because it is so freaking strange. Out of nowhere he was having severe health issues that -- while clearly related to what he was eating -- made no real sense.

      In his case he got it because he got *lots* of tick bites (he's an outdoor botanist). This, to me, is one of the stranger things that can happen to you: I mean, seriously, getting an allergy to mammal meat (except for simian!) from a tick bite?

      Lastly, I can't help but wonder if eating human flesh would be okay. I'm assuming so due to the high similarity to simians. But to my knowledge there is no medical coverage of this. Cannibals need to know!

    18. Re: Let the healing begin by bahwi · · Score: 1

      You can cut down on meat without mentioning it to anybody, you know. This would cut down on people commenting on stuff. I know, facebook generation, can't do anything without letting the world know.

    19. Re: Let the healing begin by lactose99 · · Score: 1

      Nothing really wrong with vegans actually, they are quite tasty.

      --
      Fully licensed blockchain psychiatrist
    20. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you said exactly what you meant. So many people denigrate vegans because it is a nutty religion without ethical, moral, or scientific basis.

      Feel free not to enslave animals or whatever. I don't wish to subscribe to your views or even be inconvenienced by your unfounded position when I go to a restaurant or grocery store.

      If we all ate less meat that would likely be a good thing. We probably should eat less in general. But you having a teetodler philosophy is not something I have any requirement to respect.

    21. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm mainly trigger when someone is wrong on the internet. As vegans often are.

    22. Re: Let the healing begin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I will have some tissue, thank you. Preferably grilled.

    23. Re:Let the healing begin by Immerman · · Score: 1

      In nutritional science pork, like wild board, is a red meat - something about being richer in myoglobin than white meat in poultry or fish. Maybe related? But why would primates be different? I've heard we're very biochemically similar to pigs.

      At any rate there's obviously only one solution - bushmeat being as difficult to get as it is, your friend will ultimately have no choice but to turn to cannibalism. My condolences to your family.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  2. This time, they've gone too far! by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Tick bites can cause all sorts of nasty afflictions. And if you're bitten by a Lone Star tick, here's one more to add to the list: a red meat allergy.

    Burn down nature! It's a luxury we can no longer afford!

    1. Re:This time, they've gone too far! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the actual hell slashdot... Goodbye.

    2. Re:This time, they've gone too far! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bye felicia

    3. Re:This time, they've gone too far! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Already living in South Africa.

    4. Re: This time, they've gone too far! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just reelect the orange haired thief again. All of our national parks could benefit from a 5 star hotel, water parks, oil pipelines, and a mile of artificial turf grass around it.

  3. The Giving Plague by OzPeter · · Score: 1

    The first thing I thought of was The Giving Plague by David Brin

    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    1. Re:The Giving Plague by Iamthecheese · · Score: 1

      That was a damned good read.

      --
      If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    2. Re:The Giving Plague by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      The first thing I thought of was The Giving Plague by David Brin

      In real life there are multiple factors that can disqualify you from donating blood. Having received a blood transfusion is one of them.

    3. Re:The Giving Plague by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

      The first thing I thought of was The Giving Plague by David Brin

      In real life there are multiple factors that can disqualify you from donating blood. Having received a blood transfusion is one of them.

      Depends. In the U.S., it's a year deferral, I believe. (Same deferral I got due to spending a week in Bangalore.)

      However, in the U.S., having received a transfusion in Britain is a lifetime ban on donating blood, due to a certain prion disease that hit Britain pretty hard a few decades ago. Variant CJD may take decades to show up, but can be transmitted by blood in all that time.

      Brin's story (his usual political hobby-horses beaten to splinters aside) is very good, but he made a mistake on the religion that bans blood transfusions. It's Jehovah's Witnesses, not Christian Science. Christian Science (it's neither) ... I don't think bans, exactly, but discourages ... almost all kinds of medicine. Get yourself to a Reading Room and enlighten yourself that your malady is just an illusion. JWs don't have a problem with medicine in general, but they read Leviticus to require a complete prohibition on blood transfusions. There have been court cases over this issue.

      Brin's story does have one of the best depictions of a certain insight that I've ever seen -- seeing the POV character from the inside, he is clearly a perfectly vile, self-centered SOB. But what does the rest of the world see? They can't see inside him, see his motivations. They only see what he does, which is entirely admirable, the actions of someone who, apparently, richly deserved that Nobel Peace Prize.

    4. Re: The Giving Plague by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      You can so long as you wait 12 months after receiving either a blood transfusion or an organ. Others are accepted as well after a 12 month suspension, such as: renting the four dirtiest hookers you can find and having a fivesome, receiving buttsex, and receiving gonorrea. Clamydia, herpes, and genital warts are not crimes however, so you don't have to wait 12 months to donate, as you've already been punished.

      Some crimes are beyond redemption, however, including exchanging bodily fluids with an Englishman or a Frenchman even one time since 1980. For this high crime of desecrating your body, you may never donate, and especially in the case of a Frenchman, may God have mercy on your soul.

    5. Re:The Giving Plague by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in the U.S., having received a transfusion in Britain is a lifetime ban on donating blood

      And in Canada, merely having been in the UK for three months cumulatively between 1980 and 1996 disqualifies you from donating. And it doesn't matter that I was actually vegetarian at the time I was there.

    6. Re:The Giving Plague by technosaurus · · Score: 1

      Only if the one who discovered it was vegan and discovered it year's ago. It is a pretty advantageous symbiotic relationship for the tick though if all the infected omnivorous predators stop killing off potential hosts.

    7. Re:The Giving Plague by Megol · · Score: 1

      Is someone choosing to dedicate their life to ease the suffering of others really a vile individual? Compare that to the people in the story that act altruistically because they are forced to by a disease, are they really better humans?

    8. Re:The Giving Plague by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

      He was planning to murder his friend, not "thinking about it", but making actual preparations, when his friend caught a lethal plague and died first.

    9. Re:The Giving Plague by quenda · · Score: 1

      in the U.S., having received a transfusion in Britain is a lifetime ban on donating blood, due to a certain prion disease that hit Britain pretty hard a few decades ago.

      In Australia, just having lived in the UK back then will bet you a lifetime ban on donating blood.
      It has been twenty years and I'm fine..... MMMMooooooooooo!

  4. Notta problem by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's okay, I only eat vegetarian ticks.

    1. Re:Notta problem by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      It's okay, I only eat vegetarian ticks.

      I honestly thought meat allergy was a slur for vegetarians. At least that is how I have used it ;)

  5. PETA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Can we tell if this tick has been genetically modified by PETA?

    1. Re:PETA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If the tick has been stolen out of someone's yard despite being microchipped, then kept in a cage for a couple of days before being killed by blunt force trauma from half a brick, then, yes. PETA have been at work.

    2. Re:PETA by pots · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's not the tick that causes the allergy, the tick just transmits a protein which is common to most mammals, but which apes lack. So our immune systems develop antibodies, and subsequently react to the presence of this protein.

      In other words: yes, we can tell if this tick has been genetically modified by PETA. It hasn't.

      I realize that was probably a joke, but people say some crazy shit about PETA sometimes...

    3. Re:PETA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or what about those "EAT MOR CHIKIN" Chick-fil-A cows? Colonel Sanders? Popeye?

    4. Re:PETA by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

      I realize that was probably a joke, but people say some crazy shit about PETA sometimes...

      People in PETA say some crazy shit sometimes.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    5. Re:PETA by quenda · · Score: 1

      I realize that was probably a joke, but people say some crazy shit about PETA sometimes...

      Sadly, a lot of the crazy shit is true.

  6. Lyme disease vaccine coming soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sadly a similar vaccine was stopped a long time ago, but a new lyme disease is probably 3-6 years away. One just passed the first safety phase.

    https://www.fiercepharma.com/vaccines/valneva-investing-350m-lyme-disease-vaccine-ready-for-phase-2-h2-2018

    1. Re: Lyme disease vaccine coming soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is not lyme disease. Stop listening to quacks.

  7. Re:Gluten 2.0 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    An ideological vegetarian using an iphone who refuses to turn off the broken punctuation extensions.. who would've guessed?

  8. The Bacon! by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    Won't somebody PLEASE think about The Bacon! Pork is actually red meat, does this mean no more Bacon if bit?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    1. Re:The Bacon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You just need to cook it longer until it's black. There aren't any black meat allergies. But you are what you eat, so your chances of being arrested might go up.

    2. Re:The Bacon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Burnt up meat is quite carcinogenic though.

    3. Re:The Bacon! by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      The only people claiming burnt meat is a carcinogen want to keep Burnt Ends all to themselves. Forget that!

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    4. Re:The Bacon! by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      My friend has this problem, it's all mammals except for maybe apes, monkeys, chimps.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    5. Re:The Bacon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Won't somebody PLEASE think about The Bacon! Pork is actually red meat, does this mean no more Bacon if bit?

      "Sufferers may not react every time they eat red meat, and some treatments of it, such as bacon, ham and prosciutto, can often be safely consumed." -- The Guardian, 7 Oct 2016

    6. Re:The Bacon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But that's what makes the flavor!

    7. Re: The Bacon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh-oh, looks like someone's been bitten by a bake-n-lovin tick

  9. News for Nerds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whipslash- what is the purpose of this site now? I see it just general news aggregation?

    1. Re: News for Nerds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whipsnatch still bothers with comments here? I thought he gave up about a year ago.

    2. Re: News for Nerds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously agree. They have known about this tick for at least 10 years but the ticks are slowly spreading. Not too mention that according to some research, the meat allergy goes away.

      Climate change warning

      -geekpoet

  10. Re:Eating Meat by ChrisMaple · · Score: 4, Informative

    Have you ever seen a wild animal killed and eaten by a wild predator? Torn apart while not necessarily yet dead?

    And then there are the wild animals that die of starvation, freezing, disease, etc..

    In comparison, most domestic food animals live good lives and die quick deaths.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  11. Re:Eating Meat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck you my dear taliban vegan friend.
    God made us omnivors and by God will I eat meat along with veggies, fruits, fish etc... A nice juicy steak every once in a while is a delicacy I will not renounce. The cow is ok with that too. She won't complain unless you go eating at Milliways.

  12. Re:Eating Meat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You thought my comment was about supporting PETA? Why?

  13. Semi-related anecdotes by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My wife spent a few years working in Southeast Asia. While there she started having symptoms like what you'd expect with lactose intolerance, except that she had always been able to drink milk without issue. She tried cutting milk out, but the symptoms continued. After talking with a local doctor, she found out that there was something different about the way they raised cows there, that the symptoms she was experiencing were not uncommon among Westerners who moved to the region, and that the reason the symptoms were persisting was because they could be caused by any cow-based product, not just milk.

    She had to cut out all beef, milk, and other cow-based products while she was there for a few years. By the time she got back to the West, she hadn't had cow's milk in over two years, so her body had lost the ability to process lactose entirely, leaving her well and truly lactose intolerant at that point. As for the issues with beef? So far as we know they disappeared as soon as she got back, though she was understandably gun shy about eating it for a few years. It wasn't until nearly a year into our marriage (three years after she had gotten back to the States) that I could convince her to even try beef again.

    Anyway, it's interesting to see how different establishments respond when she mentions she's lactose intolerant. She'll usually try to avoid the topic by simply asking if a dish contains milk or cream, rather than trying to explain things. If they ask why and she has to say the words "lactose intolerance", half of them react as if she had said she could die at any moment, at which point she needs to clarify that, no, she doesn't have an allergy and they don't need to scrub the kitchen down. The other half reacts dismissively, at which point she rattles off this line about loving milk and cream even though they don't love her, which usually convinces the wait staff that she isn't one of those people falsely claiming an intolerance for ideological/nutritional reasons.

    But, by far, my favorite reaction from a wait person was this time that we were ordering dessert at a decent restaurant and my wife asked if there were any desserts she'd be able to have, having mentioned earlier in the meal that she was lactose intolerant. After rattling off the list of desserts and acknowledging that each had cream, the waitress finished the list by saying, "I'll need to check on the creme brûlée, since I don't think it has cream in it." We didn't have the heart to tell her that it literally had "cream" in the name, and the waitress even asked "are you sure?" when we told her it definitely had cream in it.

    1. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      We’re neither apologizing for you, nor do we have an issue with you making a choice to not consume dairy. That’s perfectly fine. And I’m fine with people being lactose intolerant too, regardless of the reason. What I have an issue with are people who claim to have a condition when they don’t, since it makes it harder for people with actual conditions to be taken seriously. If having issues with liars who make my wife’s life more difficult than it needs to be makes me an asshole, I’ll proudly wear that label.

    2. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know you and your wife can be like normal people and take lactase pills instead of terrorizing kitchen wait staff to no end with your unreasonable requests, right?

    3. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 1

      Interesting-- I had similar experiences after a couple years in Thailand. Didn't eat much beef while there, but the milk and yogurt were not my friends.

    4. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      A) It’s just my wife. Not me. I rather enjoy dairy.

      B) She’s tried Lactaid pills on more than one occasion. At least so far, they haven’t worked for her for some reason. If you have any additional advice we might be able to try, I’m all ears. She’d love to be able to eat real pizza and ice cream again.

      C) What ridiculous requests? I said that she asks if a dish contains milk or cream. That’s all I mentioned. What she usually does with that info is simply choose a different dish if necessary. Nothing more. If you think that’s ridiculous or “terrorizing” anyone...well, you’re wrong, plain and simple. The only request she might make is to ask if it’s easy to put the cheese/cream sauce/dressing on the side instead of on top, but she knows that it isn’t always easy (e.g. pre-made salads), so she’ll simply choose a different dish if it isn’t. She’s not one of those people who asks the wait staff to hand-pick shreds of cheese from pre-made salads or demands that the chef invent a dairy-free version of a dish that requires dairy.

    5. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Creme Brule could be made from soy, coconut and corn starch without milk.

    6. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      B) She's tried Lactaid pills on more than one occasion. At least so far, they haven't worked for her for some reason. If you have any additional advice we might be able to try, I'm all ears. She'd love to be able to eat real pizza and ice cream again.

      Have you checked for the rarer caesin allergy rather than lactose? Caesin obviously isn't affected by lactase enzymes (so the pills or lactoe removed milk won't help) but sufficiently cooked milk doesn't hae it (but does retain lactose). Also trying goat or sheep milk baed products may be revealing.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    7. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After rattling off the list of desserts and acknowledging that each had cream, the waitress finished the list by saying, "I'll need to check on the creme brûlée, since I don't think it has cream in it." We didn't have the heart to tell her that it literally had "cream" in the name, and the waitress even asked "are you sure?" when we told her it definitely had cream in it.

      As a lesson to all you waiters and waitresses please just say you ask the cook to make up something specially for the client. Arguing with the client leads to a bad taste in the clients mouth.

    8. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have lactose intolerance too, and something even weirder, I have tomato intolerance (for example banana intolerance is way more common)

      so pizzas are like kryptonite for me :( i miss them so much, but you want to know what i miss even more? salads that actually have tomato on them

      now on the other hand, i know exactly why i have it.... i abused it by A LOT. So bottom line is, dont eat tomato every day of your life or you might arrive at a point where you cant eat it anymore at all, theres still plenty of lactose free stuff i can have but absolutely no tomatos

    9. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Good question. We haven’t checked explicitly for it, but from what I understand I don’t think that’s the problem. Lactaid milk works for her even though the pills didn’t, and she’ll still react to baked goods that contain enough (normal) milk, though she’s fine with any quantity of sheep and goat milk products.

    10. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by cleavet · · Score: 1

      My wife discovered that generic lactase enzyme pills were much less effective then Lactaid brand ones. If you're wife is using generics the going with brand-name pills might help with occasional dairy consumption. What ended her lactose intolerance for good, though, was having our third child. No idea why, but something about that birth restarted the enzyme production. Not sure one can prescribe that, however.

    11. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Oh, the waitress was fine. I just thought it was funny that a waitress was clueless enough to not know there was cream in a dish with cream in the name, that's all. Plus, had they offered to make something specifically for my wife, she'd have turned them down anyway. She'd feel guilty eating something like that if she caused them an undue burden. In that particular situation, she resolved it by simply ordering a nice glass of port instead, which she enjoyed while I had dessert.

    12. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. You got a lot of feedback and some of it pretty odd. I have a bad reaction to tomatoes and yes, ordering can be a real pain. I was at a BBQ place and asked if a slow cooked thing had tomatoes. He had to ask the kitchen and it did, so I ordered a sausage plate. It arrived covered in BBQ sauce. *sigh*

      I also hate ordering after a finicky eater. Certain friends of my wife always make multiple substitutions. That means, my request not to have my food contaminated by a tomato is often ignored.

      Or the waitress who insists on memorizing the order instead of writing it down. That's doom too.

    13. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Anyway, it's interesting to see how different establishments respond when she mentions she's lactose intolerant. She'll usually try to avoid the topic by simply asking if a dish contains milk or cream, rather than trying to explain things. If they ask why and she has to say the words "lactose intolerance", half of them react as if she had said she could die at any moment, at which point she needs to clarify that, no, she doesn't have an allergy and they don't need to scrub the kitchen down. The other half reacts dismissively, at which point she rattles off this line about loving milk and cream even though they don't love her, which usually convinces the wait staff that she isn't one of those people falsely claiming an intolerance for ideological/nutritional reasons.

      I think the problem is that people think "lactose intolerant" is akin to "lactose allergy", along the lines of "peanut allergy" or "soy allergy" or "shellfish allergy".,

      Because after all, a big reason people ask is they are allergic and there's a chance of a reaction.

      Whereas lactose intolerance isn't an allergy, it's a failure to produce lactase (enzyme to process lactose sugars) and no, it will not lead to an allergic reaction. However, the unprocessed lactose sugar does a number with the gut flora (typically the same ones that process bean fibers - they're the last in line of the bacteria that help process what you eat into nutrients)

      Problem is, most people don't realize that and think any food avoidance is caused by an allergy. Same goes for those with Celiac disease and thus have to avoid gluten.

    14. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by quintus_horatius · · Score: 1

      By the time she got back to the West, she hadn't had cow's milk in over two years, so her body had lost the ability to process lactose entirely, leaving her well and truly lactose intolerant at that point.

      This doesn't sound right to me. You can't prevent lactose intolerance by drinking more milk -- if that worked then I wouldn't be lactose intolerant today. By the same token, you can't induce lactose intolerance by removing lactose.

      Your body will produce lactase according to your genes. Humans are weird that so many of us continue to produce it through adulthood, but even so less than half of us do. Most mammals lose it shortly after weaning. It's normal for humans to lose it right around the beginning of adulthood, which is right about the time your girlfriend stopped being able to drink milk too.

    15. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      You can't prevent lactose intolerance by drinking more milk -- if that worked then I wouldn't be lactose intolerant today. By the same token, you can't induce lactose intolerance by removing lactose.

      So, yes and no. You're right that you can't prevent it by drinking milk, but drinking milk does indeed prevent one cause of it. Swap "lactose intolerance" for "malnutrition" or some other condition that can be caused by a deficiency. If I suggested that failing to eat regularly could result in malnutrition and you rebutted that you knew someone suffering from malnutrition despite them eating regularly, it'd be fallacious to conclude that I was wrong about a lack of eating causing malnutrition based on what you mentioned. Rather, we'd suggest that multiple causes may be possible (e.g. not eating the right things, not eating enough of them, other factors).

      Which gets to the other cause you brought up:

      It's normal for humans to lose it right around the beginning of adulthood, which is right about the time your girlfriend stopped being able to drink milk too.

      I agree that age is a primary cause for lactose intolerance, but:
      A) She's my wife, not my girlfriend.
      B) You're a few decades off the mark. I have no idea where you got the incorrect notion that she was entering adulthood when it occurred.

    16. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      I hear you. While I'm fortunate enough not to have any dietary restrictions, I know what it feels like to have them assume things after someone else orders first. We found that places would often omit the dairy ingredient from both of our dishes, even though I said nothing on the topic when placing my order. They simply assumed that I didn't want cheese on my tacos or dressing on my salad because my wife asked them to leave it off hers. These days, she oftentimes makes a point of jestfully feigning envy at my ability to eat cheese/cream/etc. after I order something containing dairy, that way it's clearer to the staff that I'm fine having the food as it's typically prepared.

      And yeah, on more than one occasion my wife has asked whether a particular dish contains dairy, been told that it does, explicitly ordered a different dish to avoid dairy, and then has the dish she ordered come out covered in a dairy ingredient that wasn't mentioned anywhere on the menu, exactly like what you're talking about. Almost without fail the wait staff have this moment of the lights coming on upstairs as they realize what happened, since it's almost always because they simply went through the motions without thinking, rather than because they were clueless.

    17. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm avoid milk and dairy products strictly for health reasons, and you and your wife just sound like assholes. Most of the world is lactose intolerant because that's the norm, consuming the breast milk (after weaning), especially of another species just isn't normal behavior, and we don't need assholes like you apologizing for us.

      Fuck you, Mr and Mrs Anubis IV.

      Thousands of years conditioned my ancestors to use dairy products for nutrition. Aging or fermenting the milk (such as cheese or yogurt) decreases the lactose present. Roughly 10% of Northern Europeans are lactose intolerant. Like most things there is no universal norm.

    18. Re:Semi-related anecdotes by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Exactly. A blogger I follow has a kid with a dairy allergy. When he was four, they took him to the doctor's office to do a controlled test to gauge the severity of the allergy. The doctor started with a single teaspoon of milk. After swallowing it, the kid apparently had time to say, "Mommy, I feel weird", before immediately passing out and going into anaphylactic shock. To say the least, he has a severe allergy.

      As I said in my original post, I don't appreciate people who make my wife's life difficult by falsely claiming allergies, and having heard stories like that blogger's, the last thing I or my wife want to do is make the lives of anyone with allergies any harder. While we appreciate the concern that those wait staff are demonstrating when they react so strongly, if there is any confusion whatsoever we do our best to clarify that she has an intolerance, NOT an allergy, and to explain what that means, that way we don't leave anyone with the false impression that people with allergies can actually have a little butter without issue.

      For my wife, simply leaving the dairy out is more than enough. Even taking it off after the fact is just fine in most cases. All we need from them is an assurance that there isn't a hidden source of it somewhere, or else that they'll remember to leave it off. We have no need for them to jump through hoops or go to extreme measures, and we want to make sure they know that so that if a person with an actual allergy shows up, they'll understand the distinction.

    19. Re: Semi-related anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Noooooooooooo Back off the ðY...!

  14. I can't say I'm surprised by hyades1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Lone Star Tick joins a long list of blood-sucking parasites from Texas. Most of the others, however, have been politicians.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    1. Re:I can't say I'm surprised by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

      The Lone Star Tick joins a long list of blood-sucking parasites from Texas. Most of the others, however, have been politicians.

      However: More of them, at least the politician type, come from California.

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    2. Re:I can't say I'm surprised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lamest comeback of the year?

    3. Re:I can't say I'm surprised by Jbcarpen · · Score: 1

      Let's be fair, Ixodes Polites is endemic to the entire planet.

      --
      GENERATION 667: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation
    4. Re:I can't say I'm surprised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And judges of IP matters.

    5. Re:I can't say I'm surprised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope, you just think it's lame because you disagree with it.

    6. Re:I can't say I'm surprised by hyades1 · · Score: 1

      No, he thinks your response is lame because it actually is lame.

      Here's what you did: steal my comment, substitute your own bete noir, then flatter yourself that you're clever.

      You aren't.

      I bet you think, "I know you are but what am I?" is the heart and soul of witty repartee.

      --
      I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  15. Ticks will save the planet by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    We all know we eat too much meat for the practice to be sustainable, but even once one admit it, it is not easy to give it up.

    But here come ticks to the rescue. Once allergic to meat it is much easier to become vegan. Ticks will save the planet!

    1. Re:Ticks will save the planet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Once allergic to meat it is much easier to become vegan.

      Even a mind altering tick can't make it easier to become that much of an asshole.

    2. Re:Ticks will save the planet by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

      We all know we eat too much meat for the practice to be sustainable, but even once one admit it, it is not easy to give it up.

      This is true or untrue depending on where you live. Or are you aggregating all people across the globe into a single entity? Seems unfair to deprive a sparsely populated area because other areas maxed out their population. That would put an interesting spin on the immigration debate though.

    3. Re:Ticks will save the planet by sheramil · · Score: 1

      Obviously, the thing to do is to start eating ticks. Ignore the tiny cries of "SPOON!"

  16. Re:Eating Meat by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1, Troll

    most domestic food animals live good lives

    Have you ever been in a battery cage warehouse? The noise is deafening. The stench will likely make you vomit.

  17. Re:Eating Meat by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    [Yorkshire accent] Well we had it tough ...

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  18. Hanlon's Age [Re:Semi-related anecdotes] by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    "Don't attribute to external forces what can be explained by getting old."

    Often stuff just plain breaks down in the body as one gradually grows older. It's like an old car: every other month something new goes wrong, and some things gradually get worse. Therefore, oddities may not necessarily have an external cause. Your medicine cabinet typically grows ever larger as you age.

    Our bodies haven't evolved to live past 45 or so. Half of Johann Sebastian Bach's children died quite early, and that was common back then even for the middle class. (Sure, some lived to 70+, but those are the exceptions.)

    1. Re:Hanlon's Age [Re:Semi-related anecdotes] by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      While I agree that age can explain many issues, including some cases of food intolerance, I fail to see the relevance here. As I said, the one issue (a beef intolerance) went away as soon as she left the region, which would serve as a contraindication to age being the cause, and the other (a lactose intolerance) has a well-established cause that applied to her: she didn’t ingest lactose for several years.

      Really, I’d suggest that your quote is a false truism. Rephrased, it’s saying nothing more than that if age might be the cause, we should assume that age is the cause, which is obviously false.

      That fact that something can be explained by age doesn’t mean that it should be, particularly when there are applicable external factors that are known to cause that issue. If someone’s memory is going, age can certainly explain that problem, but if they’ve had a recent traumatic head wound that was immediately followed by the memory loss, maybe we might consider that external factors are at play? Likewise, when it’s well-established that a continual ingestion of lactose is necessary to maintain a lactose tolerance, and the person is known to have not ingested lactose for several years, perhaps we should assume that their lack of ingestion is most likely to have been responsible for the resulting intolerance, rather than jumping to the assumption that age is the cause merely because it might be?

  19. Re:Gluten 2.0 by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

    i sure as fuck hope so. if demand for red meat drops, my bbq addiction will become just that much cheaper.

  20. Pyrethrum cream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is my worst fear.. love my red meat.. love to hunt it. Eat it..
    I have long hair and hunt solo so sometimes you just can't see the back of your scalp...
    So I keep a tube of pyrethrum cream in my 4x4 if I feel something bites me I slap on a little of this.. if it's a tick they fall off and die pretty quickly, limiting my chances of getting sick..

  21. Re:Eating Meat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your self-righteous bullshit that you talked yourself into won't help you make any more sense of the world. Stop pretending you have the answer to absolute morality and come off that high horse. Anyone who cared enough to really try could probably make you feel like a murderous criminal for half of the regular everyday things you get up to, but it would be just that: bullshit.

  22. So this means that vegans are just by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    dirty, tick-infested lowlifes who can't keep themselves free of vermin?

  23. Mysterious acquired allergies by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    I have always liked all seafood (yes, even uni), but about ten years ago, with no warning, I developed an allergy to mussels. Could this have come from some random insect bite?

    1. Re:Mysterious acquired allergies by sjames · · Score: 1

      Uni is an odd one. I've tried it and I still don't know if I like it or not.

  24. All meat diet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After hearing about a distant cousin who lost 60lb on an all meat diet, then Jordan Peterson and his daughter .. And being 60lb overweight myself... I said fuck it, lets give it a go..

    So far seems like a great choice, leaves me wondering if Europeans or Northern peoples in general may be extra adapted to survive off meat/fat.. Down nearly 40lb, feeling better over all, eating all I want(that doesn't have carbs) every day... The thought of becoming allergic to beef is scary now!

    It's just as easy to think of carbs as poison as it is for vegetarians think meat is immoral..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  25. Re: Eating Meat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The necessity to eat meat is predominately based on your genetic heritage and blood type. While you may think that everyone can and should be vegetarian there are some hominid variants that survived the millennia because of their meat intake and are now predisposed to that genetic necessity.

    Similar example: sickle cell anemia and millet. The prevalence of these two in geographic proximity is a hint. They both occur in Africa within the same geographic areas and are genetically liked to humans. People who eat millet are less likely to succumb to the issues related to sickle cell anemia because millet contains thiocyanate, which (I'm no doctor here) suppresses the symptoms. Thus, one cannot simply say being a vegetarian is the answer and everyone should be vegetarian.

  26. Hello? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Your name is liquid_schwartz and you made no joke or reference to the "Lone Star" tick name.

    Granted it's spelled "Lone Starr" in the movie, but still.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  27. Dogs... by dargaud · · Score: 2

    The spread of ticks and associated diases has multiple factors: lack of predators (dur to hunting), spread of some (imported) bushes where they shelter for the winter, warmer and wetter winters (they die if it's too dry or cold), etc... But one thing you can do about it is stop bringing your fucking dogs everywhere you go. That's how the ticks cross deserts or oceans.

    --
    Non-Linux Penguins ?
  28. Good lives my ass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > most domestic food animals live good lives [...]

    Ahhh, sweet denial.

  29. Re:Eating Meat by Megol · · Score: 2

    I don't know why batteries would need cages, mine are mostly immobile with a few exceptions, but no - I haven't.

    I have however been to places with free range cows where the noise also can be deafening periodically and the stench is a bit rich (I don't vomit easily), but then the animals have chosen to congregate to a certain sport so not the noise nor the aroma can be too bad for the animals involved.
    I've also visited many places where birds choose to live in groups, ducks recently and sea birds of different kinds in other. Let me just describe the stench as strong if not immediately revolting and the noise level at times deafening. But the animals once again choose to spend time at those places, they could easily fly away to a nice secluded spot if that was desired.

  30. Re:Eating Meat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Aw come on. School is hard for everyone...

  31. Vegetarian conspiracy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those vegetarian biohackers are going to get whats coming to them!

  32. Vegan Conspiracy! by sycodon · · Score: 2

    Now we know what all those Vegans were doing slinking around in the woods!

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  33. Re: Eating Meat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    flocks of thousands of chickens never existed in nature. their maladaption to those social conditions is why they have to have their beaks cut off, to prevent them from killing and eating each other in factory farms

  34. Re:Eating Meat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't know why batteries would need cages

    How else do you keep the little energizer bunnies from hopping away?

    It's not just the level of noise but the fact that it keeps GOING and GOING.

  35. Re: Eating Meat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mmmmm. ChiChiKen.

  36. Re:Eating Meat by quenda · · Score: 1

    And then there are the wild animals that die of starvation, freezing, disease, etc..

    That was normal for humans too until recently. Until well into civilisation, made possible by farming, and using domesticated animals.