I want to thank a reader of this blog for giving me the recommendation to write this blog topic. And I also want to thank lawyer Craig Stainbrook in Santa Rosa for helping make this the first trademarked blog of Focused Wellness!

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome Defined

Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) is more common these days. Some say the prevalence may be up to 17% of the population. Covid may be a reason for that as there are a lot of mast cell activation symptoms in long Covid (people who have health issues after Covid).

Mast cells are part of the immune system. They are white blood cells which are located in the parts of the body that deal with the outside world such as the gut, lungs, and skin. For someone with MCAS, the mast cells are overactive and release chemicals that cause allergy like symptoms in the body such as diarrhea, wheezing/trouble breathing, and itchy skin.

A woman sitting and covering her face with her hands.
The syndrome known as MCAS has been around since 2010 and there are challenges in treating a disease that is relatively new. Some doctors treat MCAS with medications, some with herbs, and some with a combination.

The difficulty with MCAS is the people with MCAS are very reactive and they may react to whatever medication or supplement they get.

MCAS Case Study

A patient of mine with MCAS is very sensitive to electricity and radio-frequency waves (EMF) such as cell phones and wifi. She is so sensitive that eating the wrong foods would cause heartburn and increase her blood pressure. She was treated with baicalin to stabilize her mast cells which made her mellower.

She realized how much EMF affected her when the power went out in her neighborhood for 8 hours and she felt 50% better with the power outage. Unfortunately the power came back on and she had to deal with the EMF by fixing her body and environment with my help.

Treating MCAS Holistically

Treating the mast cells is the most important thing to do for a person with MCAS. If the mast cells are reactive then it will be very difficult for things to be tolerated. How can a person get treated if they can’t tolerate any medication or supplement? Different treatments can be tried, but if the mast cells aren’t calmed down, the body won’t take the treatment and the treatment will have been wasted. 

Everyone who has MCAS does not have the same symptoms as they have different issues causing their MCAS. Because of that, every person with MCAS will be treated differently. They will be on different supplements/medications to calm the mast cells and then they will be on different treatments depending on what the underlying issues for their mast cells are.

Every person is individual and their MCAS is individual as well.

The challenges for people with MCAS are multiple but can be dealt with. People have to realize that they may have MCAS if they have symptoms that are not able to be diagnosed.

They have to get put on a med/supplement that calms the mast cells – that may be baicalin or it may be allergy meds such as loratadine, cetrizine or cromolyn.

They should check if they are EMF-sensitive as that is commonly seen when mast cells are activated. They should catalogue all their symptoms so a healthcare provider can go over their symptoms and figure out what underlying issues they have that set off the MCAS.

MCAS is a complex medical issue but we are getting better at treating it. Calming the mast cell is the first step to making MCAS better. Then different treatments can be done depending on what is going on.

Treatments can be related to food choices, the environment, underlying infection, as well as genetics.

Thank you for joining me in exploring how MCAS can be treated holistically. I hope that you found this info helpful, and wish you the best on your journey towards optimal health.

If you are looking for more support, I would be happy to help you with integrative medical services that can help you toward more wellness. Best of Health to you!

If you’re an existing patient, you can contact me via the Charm portal.

Dr. Richard Chen

To your health!

Dr. Richard Chen
Focused Wellness Author,
A New Way to Health: Wheel of Health
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