Mast Cell Activation Syndrome And Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Joint Pain: Hidden Connection Revealed

Are you wondering how mast cell activation syndrome and Ehlers Danlos syndrome are connected? In this video, we're going to break down mast cell activation syndrome and EDS and discuss how they are related.
Reference: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
00:00 Introduction to Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome
01:15 Understanding EDS: Symptoms and Genetics
02:24 Exploring MCAS: Symptoms, Triggers, and Overlap with EDS
03:19 The Connection Between MCAS and EDS: Symptoms and Physiology
06:57 Conclusion and Next Steps
We look at how MCAS and EDS are related. MCAS, if you don't know, is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and EDS is Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.
These two medical conditions are distinct problems or distinct physiological things going on, but they can sometimes coexist or share a lot of overlapping symptoms, leading some people to ask the question, how are they related? And that's what we're going to discuss in this video. But first, let's look separately at what each one is, and then we'll get into some of the overlap and how they're related both symptom-wise and physiologically.
So first, Ehlers Danlos syndrome or EDS. EDS basically refers to a group of genetic connective tissue disorders and it's characterized by weakness in collagen production, and it stems mainly from genetic alterations in collagen synthesis.
With this weakness in the collagen, there's more joint hypermobility, so these people are classically, like, double jointed and can move their joints in all kinds of strange positions.
There can also be really elastic skin or skin hyperextensibility and tissue fragility. So just, more sensitive, more fragile tissues and joints in general. And there are several different subtypes of EDS, each one being associated with a distinct genetic alteration affecting collagen or some other connective tissue problem.
So, with EDS, joint hypermobility and its associated pain is the key clinical feature, but individuals with EDS may also experience a range of other systemic symptoms affecting things like skin, blood vessels, internal organs, and other tissues.
And those symptoms and presentations can vary widely depending on the type of EDS that you have. Now on the mass cell activation syndrome or MCAS, this is a condition where mast cells, which is a type of white blood cell, are going to be overly responsive or release excessive amounts of chemical mediators, such as histamine and other immune molecules.
The increased activation in the mast cells can lead to a variety of symptoms and affect many different tissues throughout the body.
These types of symptoms, symptoms of Mass Cell Activation Syndrome can include things like skin rashes, itching, abdominal pain, and other digestive problems like diarrhea, headaches, respiratory problems, urinary tract problems. Triggers for Mass Cell Activation Syndrome can vary a lot, but it could be something as simple as physical exertion or changes in weather, stress.
Lots of different food triggers and environmental triggers and more commonly infectious diseases. See my other video on mast cell activation triggers for more on this topic. So now let's look at how some of these things are overlapped and what the underlying physiology might be that are connecting these two conditions.
So some individuals with EDS, in particular the hypermobile form or HEDS, may experience symptoms suggestive of mast cell activation, and that's where a lot of people start to think that they may have both or just one condition and not two because sometimes people get diagnosed with two different things.
And there certainly does seem to be a lot of overlap, the big one being pain in postural tachycardia syndrome or POTS.
Outside of the genetic factors in EDS, the increased histamine and inflammation is also proposed as kind of a unified mechanism linking the two EDS and mast cell together. Before getting into this too much, let's look at how mast cell activation syndrome and EDS are related based on symptom presentation, like allergic rhinitis, asthma, skin problems like urticaria or just itchy skin, and other functional digestive disorders like constipation, diarrhea.
There's also rheumatological problems, neuropathies, and pain. Menstrual disturbances are quite common like menorrhagia or increased menses.
Pain in the urinary tract or pain in the vaginal area.
And there's a lot of autonomic problems as well.
So on the joint hypermobility and pain, both the Mast Cell Activation Syndrome type conditions and the hypermobile EDS involve joint hypermobility and pain as a key characteristic feature. With Mass Cell, there's more of a central immune component going on, and with EDS, there's the inability to repair the damaged tissue.
And increased susceptibility to the underlying damage.
There's also the overlap on the connective tissue and immune dysfunction. Connective tissues are part of every single organ and are all over in our bodies...

[@mindfulgardener911]

I fully recovered from mcas, mcs and much more.

[@swintegrative]

Good for you. Thanks for sharing!

[@ChronicExcessiveManliness]

Great informative information. The same with your other MCAS ones...

[@swintegrative]

Glad it was helpful!