Meet MCAS, An Allergic Immune System Disorder Linked To Lyme Disease

Those who live with Lyme disease understand the role of coinfections; those who don’t know anything about Lyme other than what the news and federal public health agencies advise (”Check for ticks, and have a nice summer!”) without a doubt need their awareness raised. But before I get into coinfections, I want to talk about a coinciding disorder, mast cell activation syndrome, that is not infectious, but which is a nefarious gift of the Lyme-causing Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria that could last a lifetime. Some of what appears below is a bit technical, but if you know anyone who has been infected with Lyme disease, it could explain many otherwise inexplicable and life-affecting symptoms.

As discussed last week, the nature and even the existence of chronic Lyme disease are hotly debated because (in my opinion) not enough research is being done and despite what parties on either side of the debate say, not enough is known about how and why so many Lyme disease patients end up so ill for so long despite short-term antibiotic treatment.

However, all the way back in 1999, a study published in Infection and Immunity, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology, discussed how Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes induce mast cell and cytokine release. An even earlier 1990 study from the journal Infection also observed this phenomenon in gerbils that were infected with human isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi. That study concluded:

Various numbers of…