Comments on: Profile: Author John Grisham’s Allergy Mystery

By: Anna

Anna — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 12:11:00 +0000

I have Sulfites allgery, i realized when i woke uo in the middle or the night inchy ears in side mouth, hot, I realied that everytime i ate beef this happen, I EAT ORGANIC still have to watch out for organic foods to, cornstarch and soy is out, no processed food at all.

By: Dana

Dana — Sun, 27 May 2012 13:11:32 +0000

This is an excellent article with unusual information about tick bites triggering the later in life onset of a red meat allergy. Mr. Grisham’s experiences show us that at any age, we are vulnerable to (severe) allergic reactions due to newly identified variables. I am relieved to know that his allergy and trigger were identified (vs. being dismissed), and moreso, that Mr. Grisham’s wife recognized the importance of keeping an EpiPen on-hand. Great article, thanks!

By: John Grisham’s Allergy Mystery « A Resource on the Mammalian Meat Allergy from the University of Virginia

Tue, 08 May 2012 20:07:50 +0000

[...] I know we haven’t posted in a while, but we are keeping very busy researching alpha-gal. Here’s an interesting article from the April issue of Allergic Living on John Grisham’s meat allergy. Check it out! [...]

By: Gwen Smith

Gwen Smith — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:18:03 +0000

Kristy, Thanks for the comment. FYI, the link to Allergic Living’s full article on red meat allergy is provided.
It includes the para, “But Platts-Mills suspects that tiny fat globules coated in the offending sugar travel from the small intestine into the bloodstream though the lymphatic duct hours after the patient eats that juicy steak. In the bloodstream, they meet up with the antibody that triggers the reaction.”
The tick bite is involved in the antibody production and is essential to the red meat response. So I’m not quite sure how you’re relating this to corn as an allergen…

By: kristyreal

kristyreal — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:22:54 +0000

It’s unfortunate that the most unusual feature of Mr. Grisham’s red meat allergy went unmentioned. He is actually having a delayed allergic reaction to the SUGAR MOLECULES in red meat. This is the first widely documented allergy that is not triggered by a protein. This fact is very important to corn allergy sufferers simply because our allergists still want to insist that we can’t possibly be reacting to cornstarch or other derivatives that are thought to contain no corn protein. Even now that this tick bite induced sugar molecule allergy is well-known, most allergists still refuse to treat corn allergy sufferers based on our reaction experiences and instead cling to the old notion that without a protein, there can be no reaction. This antiquated notion has permeated the food manufacturing industry so well that companies often hide behind the “no corn protein present” party line when questioned about corn derivatives. This bit of misinformation is also the driving force that prevents many people from getting a correct diagnosis when corn allergy is involved. What is a person to do when the allergist designs a food challenge in which both the placebo and the challenge capsules contain corn derivatives? Obviously, his only recourse is to label the reactions as psychosomatic because his patient reacted to both…..