Dr. Aaron Hartman explains why MCAS is missed by standard lab tests: the key markers break down in about 30 seconds, so samples left sitting on the counter turn negative. Most clinics lack the chilled tubes and rapid processing needed to catch it. He also describes the Pentad Super Syndrome, a cluster of five conditions that often appear together with MCAS.
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So why isn't your doctor checking you for mast cell activation syndrome? Well, the reality is that's really hard to catch on labs. There are dozens of labs from prostaglandin D2, tryptase levels, histamine levels, chromogranin A levels. Some of these you may have never heard of, but you can actually test for easily in your office. The problem is these mediators last for maybe 30 seconds. So if you do a urine sample or blood sample and sits on the counter for 3 to 5 minutes, The positive test can become negative. So you really have to have tubes chilled before, a chilled centrifuge, the right setup. Because of this, most people, even in the mast cell activation syndrome world, don't actually do the lab testing. We do therapeutic trials, which what that means is trying treatments for people who fit the criteria. And we actually do have a consensus 2 criteria that actually allows us to look at people's symptoms, the over 200 of them, and get a good feel for if someone's dealing with mast cell activation syndrome. But if you have an autoimmune issue, POTS, you're hypermobile, you have a chronic fatiguing illness of some sort, hypermobility, you fall into what's called the Pentad Super Syndrome, which means you are much more likely than average to have mast cell activation syndrome. If you've heard of some of these or none of these, well, look to our website. We've got lots of information on all these on our website, on blogs. We've also as well talked about these on our podcast. But this is a really common thing. It's commonly overlooked. And one of the many, many examples of of blind spots in healthcare system. If you've had this or a loved one's had this and been diagnosed and you'd like to share below, I'd love to hear about you, to hear your story. This is how I can actually learn from people who follow me, learn from you as you learn from me, but also how we can share information with the population at large to get people on board that this is a thing and get 19% of the population. And education starts first. So, take care. Talk to you soon.
