Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

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Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Histamine: When Your Immune System Runs Rampant

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Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Histamine When Your Immune System Runs Rampant (klik hier)

Voor de Nederlandstalige versie:

Mastcelactiveringssyndroom en histamine NEDERLANDS 03042019 (klik hier)

There is undoubtedly an escalating epidemic of chronically unwell people in North America. The present method of looking at illness is geared toward a single organ, a single specialty, a single drug, and voila! – let’s hope for a cure. Often patients go from pillar to post to see various medical consultants according to specialty (gastroenterologists, dermatologists, etc.), only to discover there isn’t one underlying syndrome or root cause that explains all the assorted symptoms the patient is experiencing. Patients may be given multiple diagnoses with multiple treatment options or medications, often with conflicting interactions and side effects that are worse than the underlying condition they are meant to treat.

Recently, a number of new ways of looking at chronic multisystem, multisymptom diseases has emerged as pioneering physicians connect previously disconnected dots and make sense of disparate symptoms that were never understood as components of a single syndrome. The first is the trailblazing work of Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker on chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS). This syndrome is induced primarily by mold biotoxins and the inflammagens of water-damaged buildings, ciguatera or pfiesteria infestations, or Lyme disease and co-infections. The second is the pioneering work of Dr. Lawrence Afrin on mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). Dr. Afrin is a board-certified hematologist/oncologist who recently wrote a book, “Never Bet Against Occam: Mast Cell Activation Disease and the Modern Epidemics of Chronic Illness and Medical Complexity.”

Two important books that address the complex syndromes that may underlie many chronic, multisymptom, multisystem disease conditions are:

  • Surviving Mold: Life in the Era of Dangerous Buildings, by Ritchie C. Shoemaker, M.D.
  • Never Bet Against Occam: Mast Cell Activation Disease and the Modern Epidemics of Chronic Illness and Medical Complexity, by Lawrence B. Afrin, M.D.

What is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome?

Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) refers to a group of disorders with diverse causes presenting with episodic multisystem symptoms as the result of mast cell mediator release, often without causing abnormalities in routine laboratory or radiologic testing. Most people with MCAS have chronic and recurrent inflammation, with or without allergic symptoms. This occurs when an aspect of the innate immune system becomes overactive and releases a flood of inflammatory chemicals, which may affect every organ in the body. The symptoms of MCAS will wax and wane over time. Another way to think of this is the symptoms will flare up and go into remission, affecting different organs and body parts, over and over again throughout a person’s life, without a common unifying theme or established diagnoses to account for the patient’s presentation of symptoms.

MCAS can present subtly but may become more serious as an individual ages. If you were to chart the symptoms of MCAS on a timeline, beginning at birth you can often identify symptoms that began at a very young age.

For some, MCAS becomes a highly probable diagnosis when they notice that they have had various symptoms of an inflammatory nature over the years. These symptoms may include:

  • Allergies as a toddler
  • Various skin rashes that came and went
  • Disturbed gut function (possibly diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO))
  • Unexplained anxiety
  • Headaches
  • Insomnia
  • Poor wound healing

Any of these symptoms could indicate MCAS.

You can take our Hoffman Centre for Integrative Medicine MCAS Questionnaire HERE.

Dr. Afrin believes that MCAS is an epidemic with as many as 14 to 17 percent of the US population having MCAS – one out of every six to seven individuals. It has been said that it may take up to 10 years and numerous doctor visits before someone is adequately diagnosed and treated by a knowledgeable physician—or the patient figures it out for themselves!