Description
What should you do after a tick bite, how do you know if it’s Lyme disease, and can a tick really make you allergic to meat? Infectious disease physician Dr. Nuwan Gunawardhana of Columbia University joins me to answer all of it, from how Lyme disease spreads and the signs to watch for beyond the bull’s-eye rash, to post-exposure prevention, Lyme testing, and the truth about “chronic Lyme.” We also get into alpha-gal syndrome and the Lone Star tick, this summer’s record-breaking Cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce, and the measles outbreak in Pennsylvania and across the country.
Along the way, Dr. G shares the tick-check spots most of us forget, why a dog in your bed can matter, which hidden ingredients people with alpha-gal need to watch for, why produce washes won’t protect you from Cyclospora, and how a simple MMR titer can tell you whether you’re protected against measles.
Chapters
(00:00:00) Meet Dr. G
(00:02:25) What Lyme disease is and how it spreads
(00:04:15) Where the tick hotspots are
(00:05:15) Deer, mice, and why your dog matters
(00:07:20) Tick season and why it’s running later
(00:08:44) How to protect yourself: DEET, high socks, and tick checks
(00:10:43) Checking your dog for ticks
(00:11:43) Found a tick? The 72-hour window and one-dose prevention
(00:15:12) Lyme disease symptoms beyond the bull’s-eye rash
(00:16:22) My son’s story
(00:19:16) The stages of Lyme disease
(00:20:34) “Chronic Lyme” vs. post-treatment Lyme syndrome
(00:23:20) How Lyme testing works
(00:28:17) A Lyme vaccine and how Lyme hides from your immune system
(00:30:01) Alpha-gal syndrome: the tick bite that causes a meat allergy
(00:33:14) Alpha-gal symptoms, diagnosis, and what to avoid
(00:37:40) Cyclospora and this summer’s lettuce outbreak
(00:41:05) Can you wash Cyclospora off your produce?
(00:45:18) Measles: why it’s back
(00:50:32) Measles symptoms to watch for
(00:52:36) Checking your MMR titer and herd immunity
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