Tick-borne illness is a quality of life changer

To the Editor;

I read the letter that Alpha-Gal tick-borne allergy is in Maine with interest and horror. These ticks used to be southern, but are on a northward march due to climate change.

My niece has Alpha-Gal. She lives in Indiana. From her experiences I can tell you that it is not just an allergy that affects your consumption of red meat. You will be allergic to everything that comes from a mammal. Shampoo? Hand lotion? Cosmetics? Even the capsules that contain medications that you take for something else, all of these things are almost guaranteed to contain products (such as gelatin) from mammals. She had a horrible reaction when she was sorting through old photographs for an album due to the coating on the photos. Yep, mammal product.

Sometimes we need to be afraid in order to fully comprehend how important it is to be careful.  Be very afraid —and be very careful. Alpha-Gal is a quality of life changer! And, although you can learn to manage it depending on the severity of your allergy, it is not curable.

Be careful.

Sue Shaw
Penobscot