Articles
Stress and Mast Cells
PowerPoint slides from Roselle O Brien's webinar on 'Stress and Mast Cells' exploring 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' exploring how these ‘pillars of health’ can 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' exploring 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'. 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' examining some simple tools that can help us all to navigate life’s ups and downs more skillfully.
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' exploring 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' exploring the role that the vagus nerves play in regulating stress, inflammation, and mast cell activity.
Long COVID and the Mast Cell Connection
PowerPoint slides from Roselle O'Brien's talk 'Long COVID and the Mast Cell Connection' exploring 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' looking at how the immune system works, and how we can support it to function optimally using diet and lifestyle measures.
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.
Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Response to Mast-Cell-Directed Treatment: A Case Series
Leonard B. Weinstock, Renee M. Nelson and Svetlana Blitshteyn (2023). This is a small study that explores the comorbidity of psychiatric conditions and MCAS. The study includes 8 patients with both a psychiatric and MCAS diagnosis and highlights how, treating MCAS improved the psychiatric symptoms. The study highlights how psychiatric patient's refractory to standard therapy that also have systemic symptoms should be assessed for MCAS. It calls for more studies to investigate the prevalence of MCAS in psychiatric patients not responding to standard treatments to get a better picture of this association and the potential therapeutic benefits for the patients.
Fluoxetine retrains allergic inflammation by targeting an FcɛRI-ATP positive feedback loop in mast cells
Tamara T Haque, Marcela T Taruselli, Sydney A Kee, Jordan M Dailey, Neha Pondicherry, Paula A Gajewski-Kurdziel, Matthew P Zellner, Daniel J Stephenson, H Patrick MacKnight, David B Straus, Roma Kankaria, Kaitlyn G Jackson, Alena P Chumanevich, Yoshihiro Fukuoka, Lawrence B Schwartz, Randy D Blakely, Carole A Oskeritzian, Charles E Chalfant, Rebecca K Martin, John J Ryan (2023). This article outlines a study on mice that tests the effects of the SSRI fluoxetine on IgE-induced activation of mast cells. It discusses how fluoxetine suppresses mast cell activation and ATP secretion, which amplifies IgE responses. The article concludes by suggesting that fluoxetine is a promising candidate for repurposing allergy treatment.
Increased Excretion of Mast Cell Mediator Metabolites During Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
Joseph H Butterfield (2023). This is a retrospective cohort study exploring biomarkers in MCAS diagnosis. While an increase in serum tryptase by 20% plus 2 ng/mL is required for an MCAS diagnosis, there is no agreement on what counts as significant rise in urinary metabolites such as prostaglandin D2, histamine, or leukotriene (which are also linked to MCAS episodes). The study finds that the measurements of all three urinary metabolites together is helpful for diagnosis.
Cluster-Analytic Identification of Clinically Meaningful Subtypes in MCAS: The Relevance of Heat and Cold
Tinus Häder, Gerhard J Molderings, Frank Klawonn, Rupert Conrad, Martin Mücke, Julia Sellin (2023). This study is the first to perform a cluster analysis of MCAS patients, classifying them into subgroups based on symptoms and triggers, which could help to personalize treatment and improve patient care. The study concludes that there is utility of a cluster analytic approach and the potential of association analysis to improve the understanding of MCAS subtypes and to personalize the therapy.
Learned cautions regarding antibody testing in mast cell activation syndrome
Lawrence B. Afrin, Tania T. Dempsey and Gerhard J. Molderings (2023). This article discusses the role and limitations of antibody testing in MCAS patients. As MCAS causes abnormal antibody production, it can mimic antibodies that can lead to diagnostic confusion and misdiagnosis of autoimmune or infectious diseases. The article suggests that healthcare professionals should exercise caution with positive antibody test results in MCAS patients. It states that the monitoring of clinical symptoms and repeated testing over time should be used to avoid misdiagnosis caused by misleading results.
Mast Cells as a Target - A Comprehensive Review of Recent Therapeutic Approaches
Joanna Baran, Anna Sobiepanek, Anna Mazurkiewicz-Pisarek, Marta Rogalska, Aleksander Gryciuk, Lukasz Kuryk, Soman N Abraham, Monika Staniszewska (2023). This article provides a comprehensive overview of therapeutic approaches targeting mast cells, making it highly relevant to the treatment theme. It discusses the role of mast cells in the immune system, their overactivity in pathological states, and various therapeutic strategies to manage these conditions.
Immunological dysfunction and mast cell activation syndrome in long COVID
Stevent Sumantri, Iris Rengganis (2023). This article explores the similarities between long COVID and MCAS; long COVID-19 is persistent inflammatory state that causes abnormal mast cell activation and the release of inflammatory cytokines. This connection opens therapeutic opportunities for patients with long COVID that have clinical symptoms consistent with MCAS.
How can a dietician help support those with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome?
Chloe Hall (2023). This article gives an overview of dietary triggers associated with MCAS and dietary recommendations for the management of MCAS symptoms. It is targeted to dieticians, outlining their role in identifying dietary triggers in MCAS, safely re-introducing foods where anaphylaxis has occurred in the past, and in fostering a healthy relationship between MCAS patients and food.
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