Dr. Robert Whitfield explains how insulin resistance and mast cell activation syndrome feed each other in a loop. Hormonal shifts in women, especially perimenopause, trigger flares. GLP-1 agonists help by lowering insulin resistance and directly binding to receptors on mast cells to calm activation.
Insulin resistance is a huge trigger for MCAS and vice versa. MCAS is often a cause of insulin resistance. We know internally though, hormonal imbalances, hormonal changes for women in puberty, in perimenopause, menopause, those times can be really tricky for women. They often are, you know, flare if they have MCAS. So getting the hormones under control, insulin resistance is a huge trigger for, for MCAS and vice versa. MCAS is often a cause of insulin resistance. And so there's a bidirectional relationship there. And that— so blood sugar regulation is often— can be triggering.
So now you're going to get the— do the GLP-1s help mast cell activation syndrome?
Yeah.
Because they decrease insulin resistance.
But they also bind directly to the mast cells. Mast cells have GLP receptors and GIP receptors. So it's literally just binding and sending a signal, stop. That's actually helping the insulin resistance as well because now the mast cells are not activated.
