The effects of lifestyle choices on the development of Alpha-gal
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Secondary School
Institution
Project Lead The Way - Kentucky
KY House District #
7
KY Senate District #
8
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Dr. Chad Wilkerson
Abstract
Do people's’ lifestyle choices have an impact on what symptoms they develop from alpha-gal? If a person is bitten by a Lone Star Tick and contracts alpha-gal then there is a large chance that the person will have a red meat allergy from the bite based on his/her lifestyle choices. We analyzed data from a large number of studies to see if there a connection between the participants’ lifestyle habits and their symptoms and determine how lifestyle affects the severity of symptoms. Our goal was to determine if there is a correlation between people who live in certain geographical locations, pet owners, and those with an active outdoor lifestyle are more likely to contract alpha-gal. We found that even certain medicines and treatments like the chemotherapy drug, cetuximab, can cause alpha-gal afflicted people to go into an allergic reaction because it is made with animal byproducts. Studies also reveal that some people afflicted with alpha-gal can show allergic symptoms by simply brushing their teeth with a toothpaste that contains animal byproducts. This can cause major confusion if a person’s first allergic reaction is brought on by their toothpaste, and it is certainly not easy to link that reaction to alpha-gal caused by the animal byproducts.
The effects of lifestyle choices on the development of Alpha-gal
Do people's’ lifestyle choices have an impact on what symptoms they develop from alpha-gal? If a person is bitten by a Lone Star Tick and contracts alpha-gal then there is a large chance that the person will have a red meat allergy from the bite based on his/her lifestyle choices. We analyzed data from a large number of studies to see if there a connection between the participants’ lifestyle habits and their symptoms and determine how lifestyle affects the severity of symptoms. Our goal was to determine if there is a correlation between people who live in certain geographical locations, pet owners, and those with an active outdoor lifestyle are more likely to contract alpha-gal. We found that even certain medicines and treatments like the chemotherapy drug, cetuximab, can cause alpha-gal afflicted people to go into an allergic reaction because it is made with animal byproducts. Studies also reveal that some people afflicted with alpha-gal can show allergic symptoms by simply brushing their teeth with a toothpaste that contains animal byproducts. This can cause major confusion if a person’s first allergic reaction is brought on by their toothpaste, and it is certainly not easy to link that reaction to alpha-gal caused by the animal byproducts.