Asthma and Allergies, Info Please.

[Nikk]

I am currently playing host to an 11 year old friend of my son's. He is asthmatic and uses prescription medecines to control the condition. His mother has stated that he is allergic to "red meat" i.e. beef, pork, lamb, venison etc which can bring on an asthmatic attack. On the other hand poultry is O.K. I have no idea what is the source of the belief.

Whilst I am aware that a wide range of allergens can precipitate an asthmatic attack I had never heard of a " red meat " connection and it seems unlikely to me but then what do I know?

Does anyone have any views on this subject? Are people actually allergic to red meat?

 

[Goshawk]

Yes.

http://allergy.mcg.edu/news/food.html

New data also indicates that beef allergy is more common than previously thought. Although its prevalence is unknown, studies indicate reactions to beef have begun to increase.

Exercise-induced anaphylaxis after eating beef and pork has been reported in adults, and contact dermatitis after handling beef is well known in the butchering trade, according to Alessandro Fiocchi, M.D., University of Milan in Italy. Evidence shows that the allergenicity of beef proteins is reduced through heating for a sufficient length of time, and by freeze-drying and homogenization.

 

[SteveGrenard]

Asthma or hyperreactive airway disease (e.g. wheezing) is induced by many foreign proteins which serve as allergens. Horse and cow allergies have been with us since the days of Columbus and are a constant source of problems. At one time tetanus shots were based on equine serums and up to two years ago anybody bitten by a snake was injected with Wyeth's equine based anti-serum. Ninety per cent of the recipients had some sort of allergic reaction including serum sickness and 20% would develop life threatenting anaphylactic shock. Here's a MedLine abstract of a review on the subject:

1: Allergy Proc. 1992 Nov-Dec;13(6):335-44.

Fauna, flora, fowl, and fruit: effects of the Columbian Exchange on the allergic response of New and Old World inhabitants.

Salvaggio JE.

Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, LA 70112.

The Columbian Exchange has been described as "the most important event in human history since the end of the Ice Age." This interchange of many species of fauna, flora, fowl, and fruits resulted in new encounters between New and Old World inhabitants. Prominent among these were manifestations of allergic reactions to many of the new substances. Little imagination is required to reflect on what these substances, added to or detracted from both the New and Old World lifestyles, habits, and diets. The numerous peas, vegetable seeds, and grasses, such as sugarcane, introduced during Columbus' later voyages, made an enormous difference in the lives of New World inhabitants, as did the introduction of the cow and horse, not to mention substances such as coconuts and bananas, that are now intimately associated with the Caribbean and the Bahamas. This article focuses on some the more important exchange substances and emphasizes many forms of anaphylaxis: asthma, food allergy, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, chronic bronchitis, rhinitis, serum sickness, and other conditions that developed in both New and Old World inhabitants. To mention only a few examples, the Europeans introduced to the New World potential dangers such as honeybees (anaphylaxis). It also gave the New World the cow and the horse (serum sickness), which became the constant companion of Columbus' Indians and the American cowboy. It gave the Italians their thick red gravy, and the New World its pizza (food allergy). The Caribbean received bananas and coconuts and the New World embraced coffee (caffeine addiction). On the other hand, the exchange also caused Europeans to begin puffing away on tobacco.

 

[Quasi]

They are quite correct, my nephew is also allergic to red meats, but chicken is OK. No one else in the family is though. It is known that allergies and asthma are more common in urban areas. The exact cause is not quite nailed down, but it is some sort of combination of pollution (indoor mainly) where dander and other particles build up in tightly sealed homes, causing allergies in their developing immune systems.

 

[John Harrison]

I am currently playing host to an 11 year old friend of my son's. He is asthmatic and uses prescription medecines to control the condition. His mother has stated that he is allergic to "red meat" i.e. beef, pork, lamb, venison etc which can bring on an asthmatic attack. On the other hand poultry is O.K. I have no idea what is the source of the belief.

Perhaps the child has been tested by an allergist? Beef and chicken are normally covered on a food scratch test.

 

[Dr. Imago]

If the boy has multiple allergies that are extrinisic (e.g., certain foods, peanuts, hay fever, etc.), he may benefit from a new drug called "Xolair" now avalailable at least in the U.S. I"m not sure if it's available yet in Europe, but it is a monthly shot that has literally changed the lives of many allergic sufferers. This is what I'd ask the doctor about.

Here's the U.S. website for it (and sometimes you can't always link to such sites in other countries, but give it a shot):

http://www.xolair.com/

 

[Zep]

As an allergy sufferer myself, could I pose the possibility that the allergy to red meat may be due to the grass feed that the animal was consuming prior to butchery? Perhaps a correlation between allergy to the meat and also to the feed that the animal consumed may be reasonable?