Articles
Gratitude Handout
Use this journal however feels right for you. There’s no pressure to write every day or find something profound. Some days, it might be a kind word from a friend, a moment of peace, or simply managing to eat a safe meal. These moments matter. You matter.
Potato lectin activates basophils and mast cells of atopic subjects by its interaction with core chitobiose of cell-bound non-specific immunoglobulin E
S. N. Pramod, Y. P. Venkatesh and P. A. Mahesh (2007). This study addresses the role of potato lectin (STA) in activating mast cells and basophils through non-specific binding to IgE and FcεR receptors. It studies the effect of STA on atopic and non-atopic subjects, and finds that it may cause non-allergic hypersensitivity in some atopic individuals, despite not being a ‘true allergen’. Therefore, it suggests that lectins in foods like potatoes and tomatoes may contribute to symptoms of allergic reactions (e.g. asthma) in STA-sensitive individuals.
Retrain Your Brain, Retrain Your Mast Cells
PowerPoint slides from Roselle O'Brien's talk 'Retrain Your Brain, Retrain Your Mast Cells'. We don't often think of our body's cells or our physical brain when we think of the word resilience. Typically, we think of resilience in terms of our emotional ability to bounce back after a jarring event. Resilience, however, can also be applied to our physical body and its ability to adjust to challenges and changes that we may experience. Our brains continue to develop throughout our lifespan. Join us as we explore what retraining our cells, especially mast cells, and retraining our brains might mean when it comes to mast cell activation reactions and our strategies to support brain health and body health when managing mast cell activation reactions.
Foods and Inflammation
PowerPoint slides from Deborah Bircham from live Well with Chronic Illness webinar 'Foods and Infammation'. In this talk, we will be exploring some of the foods that can provoke inflammation and some of the foods that can help reduce it, and how we can use these foods to help us with MCAS.
Dysautonomia
PowerPoint slides from Roselle O Brien's webinar on 'Dysautonomia'. Dysautonomia is an umbrella term used to classify multiple disorders in which the autonomic nervous system isn't working properly. Join us! Together we'll explore this vital area of health--our nervous system--and the important role that mast cells play in nervous system function. We'll examine some specific health conditions within the dysautonomia category to better understand how a nervous system-mast cell connection informed approach can augment interventions and strategies for improving health, wellness, and symptom management.
Your Safe Haven at Home
PowerPoint slides from Roselle O Brien's webinar on 'Your Safe Haven at Home'. We all need a safe haven; a space we can retreat to from the pressures and demands of our lives. The need for a safe haven for people with MCAS and mast cell activation related issues and disorders is vital. Join us! Hosted by Roselle O'Brien, we will explore the realities of "safe haven" in the mast cell world, what it means, what it entails, crucial elements---and why it's so essential. Add to the tools in your ever-growing toolbox of health supports with insights and strategies for creating your safe haven
MCAS and Environmental Pollution the Toxic Truth
PowerPoint slides from Deborah Bircham from Live Well with Chronic Illness' webinar on 'MCAS and Environmental Pollution the Toxic Truth'. Many of us know that exposure to certain chemicals, toiletries, cleaning products and perfumes makes us worse when we live with MCAS, but how do these toxins affect us, and why? What is the connection between MCAS and environmental toxins? What are the toxins in these products that cause us issues. Are they a problem just for us, or for everyone? What can we do to support ourselves when exposed to toxins, and how can we reduce our exposure? Come and explore some of these issues and find out more about how to manage chemical sensitivity with MCAS.
What is detoxing and how might it help with MCAS?
PowerPoint slides from Deborah Bircham from Live Well with Chronic Illness' webinar on 'What is detoxing and how might it help with MCAS?'. Learn tips and tricks to reduce toxins in your body and the environment.
Stress and Mast Cells
PowerPoint slides from Roselle O Brien's webinar on 'Stress and Mast Cells'. Together we'll explore how stress impacts us physically in our bodies, the role it plays with mast cells and in mast cell activation, and some strategies for managing stress, the stressors in our lives, and mast cell activation reactions that can be brought on by stress.
Pillars of Health
PowerPoint slides from Deborah Bircham from Live Well with Chronic Illness's webinar 'Pillars of Health'. Regardless of what medical diagnosis you have, there are certain things that are foundational to health for all of us, and working on these ‘pillars of health’ can only improve the situation for any health condition. Deborah will share her unique ‘Health Discovery Framework’ with us, which she uses with her own clients.
The Neuroscience of Mindfulness
PowerPoint slides from Deborah Bircham from Live well with chronic illness's webinar 'The Neuroscience of Mindfulness'. Find out more about the neuroscience of how Mindfulness works, and how everyone can develop their own unique mindfulness practice to support them to manage difficulty and feel better—EVEN if you struggle to sit still, switch off and relax!
Understanding Lyme Disease – a general introduction to Lyme
PowerPoint slides from Deborah Bircham from Live well with chronic illness's webinar 'Understanding Lyme Disease – a general introduction to Lyme'. This talk teaches you how to be Lyme Aware. For many people, there is a significant overlap between Lyme Disease and MCAS, and Lyme can be an underlying root cause for MCAS.
How to Fight On in Tough Times – Tools and Tips to Foster Mental Resilience
PowerPoint slides from Deborah Bircham from Live well with chronic illness' webinar 'How to Fight On in Tough Times – Tools and Tips to Foster Mental Resilience'. Life is difficult. We will all experience suffering and pain at some point during our lives. Luckily, there are some simple tools that can help us all to navigate life’s ups and downs more skillfully, and we are going to look at these during this talk.
How to be Heard: Advocating for yourself within the NHS
PowerPoint slides from Vicky Pearson's webinar 'How to be Heard: Advocating for yourself within the NHS'. This event was designed to help individuals learn how to approach MCAS whilst accessing medical care within the NHS and how to advocate for yourself as a patient.
How to Sleep Well
PowerPoint slides from Deborah Bircham from Live well with chronic illness webinar on 'How to Sleep Well'. We all know that a good night's sleep is important for our wellbeing, but MCAS can badly affect our sleep. In this talk we will explore what sleep is, why we need it, and how we can support our body to get as much good quality sleep as possible.
Vagus Nerves and Mast Cells
PowerPoint slides from Roselle O'Brien's talk on 'Vagus Nerves and Mast Cells'. The role that the vagus nerves play in regulating stress, inflammation, and mast cell activity is crucial. Let's do a deeper dive in understanding how the vagus nerves operate, how they communicate, why they matter, and their impact on our body systems and functions. Taking a vagus nerves and cell communication informed approach to managing mast cell activation symptoms can give us new tools for our toolbox as we learn this particular language of our body and talk some self-care to our cells.
Long COVID and the Mast Cell Connection
PowerPoint slides from Roselle O'Brien's talk on Long COVID and the Mast Cell Connection. The years since the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic have seen an increasing number of people of all ages, children through the elderly, with lingering systemic symptoms of brainfog, exhaustion, pain, and more. Research has pointed to mast cell activation in COVID-19 and long-COVID. Together we'll explore what current research has shown about the long-COVID-mast cell connection and what that may mean to managing symptoms as we support our health in challenging times.
Immune Health - How to Fight off Bugs and Viruses Naturally
Powerpoint slides from Deborah Bircham from Live Well with Chronic Illness' webinar 'Immune Health - How to Fight off Bugs and Viruses Naturally'. When we live with MCAS, we often find we have lowered immunity and catch colds and bugs more easily. In this talk, we will look at how the immune system works, and how we can support it to function optimally using diet and lifestyle measures. What are some natural ways to boost immune health, to keep us well and free from viral infections?
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome: A Research Update
Kathleen Doheny (2023). This is a short informative article explaining the difference between clonal and non-clonal mast cell activation syndrome. It focuses on presentation of each and helpful investigations for a diagnosis. There are also useful links to scientific articles that go more in depth in the detail of the non-clonal form.
A Puzzling Mast Cell Trilogy: Anaphalaxis, MCAS, and Mastocytosis
Theo Gülen (2023). This article outlines the difficulties associated with diagnosing three interrelated conditions; anaphylaxis, MCAS, and mastocytosis. It outlines each in turn, to then discuss their overlap and clinical features of their presentation alongside other mast-cell related disorders. It concludes by calling for future research aimed at identifying new biomarkers to distinguish patients with each disorder and the treatment of patients in specialized centres due to the complexity of the conditions.
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