Mast Cells United: A Holistic Approach to Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

by Amber Walker

Allergies and anaphylaxis are on the rise, alongside gastrointestinal problems, skin issues, fatigue, orthopedic pain, neurological symptoms, and just about everything in between. Patients are coming out of the woodwork with chronic, debilitating, often invisible illness. Recent research estimates that 14%-17% of the population may have mast cell activation disease.

Much of the medical community has never heard of the condition, and existing mainstream treatment tends to focus predominantly on pharmacological management. However, once a patient has reached a stable baseline, there are a number of other individualized approaches that can guide patients to successfully address the underlying root issues and get their lives back.

This book includes:
1) an in-depth overview of mast cell activation disease, with a focus on mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS);
2) a patient story describing life with MCAS;
3) a detailed literature review and current hypotheses for disease origins;
4) a practical guide of clinical considerations for diagnosis;
5) a chapter devoted to comorbid conditions, including Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, POTS, Lyme disease and much more;
6) several chapters devoted to mainstream and natural treatment options, dietary considerations, and strategies for holistic healing;
7) content from dozens of interviews with prominent MCAS experts, including specialists in allergy/immunology, hematology, functional medicine, naturopathy, psychology, nutrition, gastroenterology, physical therapy, clinical research, and more!

Whether a patient, medical practitioner, or family member/friend, this book empowers readers and provides patients with concrete steps to move forward in the diagnosis and comprehensive treatment of mast cell activation syndrome.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Self Help, Medicine

542 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2019

Reviews

[Bogi Takács]

At over 500 pages, this is a Tome. It's thorough and well-cited, but it's frustrating that some of the citations are junk science at best. This is especially striking when it comes to autism. There is so much incorrect information in this book about autism that it makes me question everything else too. :/ (Including internal contradictions; for example, on p. 127 a psychological phenotype possibly related to MCAS is both described as overlapping with autism, and as being able to read others really well in social situations.) But because the citations are tidy, at least I can look up individual pieces of information, so the book is still quite useful to me personally. Just make sure to doublecheck the bits that are relevant to you.

Another issue I had - it is one thing to be thorough, but the book mentions weird conspiracy-theory type of stuff too, just by prefacing it with "Anecdotally...". This bothered me, because some of the "Anecdotally..." parts were along the lines of "researchers haven't yet bothered to measure this" (which is great and helpful), and then some were quite bizarre. This makes reading a book a bit like reading online chronic illness groups I've been in, where some people are like "this herbal supplement worked quite well for me and my cousin, you might want to try" and some people are like "but you do realize that your symptoms are caused by having an alarm clock in your bedroom, right?". It's hard to figure out where to draw the line when discussing an underresearched illness, but I would have personally drawn the line a bit tighter.

There is also an amount of casual gender essentialism in the text (why is it necessary to mention every single time menstruation comes up that this is for women?), and overall anything about sex hormones is really underdiscussed, with the occasional contradiction. I kept on waiting for a discussion on estrogen suppression, which was repeatedly mentioned as an aside, but more detailed information never came - maybe I just missed it? Sadly my edition is print but it doesn't come with an index, so searching for anything in it is hard. Sigh! I would have loved to read about that.
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Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library (thank you!)

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book in 4 days, and it was quite a hefty book! I have MCAS, and this book was recommended to me… but I was left very disappointed. I do not recommend the book.

This book is a mixture of anti vax rhetoric, studies that have weight, and studies that have been discredited by the science and medical community. There is ableism throughout the book, but especially concerning autism, with a discredited and unproven study mentioned about autism in dogs… with dogs chasing their tails… I was left disgusted.

Also, so much talk about “detoxing” and toxic metals, and others things like that. Of course, as it’s a holistic book, there is a lot of talk of naturopathic medicine and functional medicine doctors. And also Medical Medium, who I have to be honest, is a snake peddling salesman. And it seems that Amber Walker is the same.

It’s really honestly a sad for me read… because some of what she talks about is grounded, and actually has bearing. But it’s overshadowed by everything else… and I can’t talk someone who things immunotherapy is bad because of “toxic metals” and the same with vaccines.

There is a section of the book dedicated to bible verses, and honestly if that helps you great… but this is also overshadowed by the toxic metal detox stuff for me…

Also the idea that foods will heal you… my god, to a point yes… and all the IV vitamin therapy you want, but despite root cause this and whatever other therapy she talks about, you’re still going to have Mast Cell. I think holistic medicine has some bearing, I’m into herbalist medicine myself, I live pretty naturally. Depending on your starting point, sure eating a good diet is going to help. But for people like me who have been eating healthy, don’t use most mainstream stuff, all that hippie stuff… it doesn’t help to be told you need to DETOX more. Like wtf. I’m still sick. And no, I’m not going to shell out $20-40k at your holistic clinic.

Sorry for the very long review. I can’t stand snake oil people. Reading this book was like a roller coaster ride of me being skeptical that this was a good book for the first 55 pages. And then being like ok… this book has some good science points in it, diagnostic info, medicine info… but then loses me all over again with toxin overload, ableist autism talk, anti vax rhetoric… I can’t recommend this book at all. Disappointed.

If you want hopium and enjoy medical medium and snake oil books by all means, but there are better holistic books out there who won’t talk anti vax etc.

[Janae · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone with hEDS and MCAS, it was a very informative.

[Erinn Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciated this book for it's accessibility and wide coverage of topics.

I am versed in scientific language, and some chapters have more of it than others, but overall I believe it can be read by anyone and from cover to cover like a traditional book.

The author states that she wanted to create a resource that had all the information in one place and I think she did a good job of that; there is information on *almost* any question you could have about MCAS (though lacking an index to find it easily.) As stated in a previous review, some topics are missing such as hormonal influence, and some information is questionable - just because the author has cited research doesn't mean it's reputable. It's wise to never elevate any one book/author as perfect, this one being no different.

However, I felt that generally speaking, this book was very useful and well done. I learned a lot about myself and my condition, even having a broad knowledge base before reading. I feel inspired and better equipped to advocate for myself with the medical community and in my personal life, and the task of making positive lifestyle steps feels a bit less daunting. To me, that is a win.

[Kayla Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are not many books out there on this subject quite yet. This is a very thorough review of evidence based treatments as well as anecdotal. My only complaint is that probably 30% of the book is anecdotal evidence which makes sense due to the lack of research available but it made it difficult to keep track of what is proven and what is suspected. I would love to see a revised edition of this book that includes information about long-covid and updated research.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very tailored to those who have all the diagnoses the author has, so if you have just MCAS Dr. Adrian’s book has all you need to know. If you have an eosinophilic disease, this book doesn’t address that common double diagnosis. As someone with the latter, I found nothing new or useful to me in this book.

[Mel Maddox · Rating 1 out of 5]

While there are a few nuggets of information for people with MCAS, you have to wade through 500+ pages to find it. It's hard going - far too many scientific research papers quoted, with no real conclusions and at times written in a condescending manner towards patients. I can't tell who the target audience is - practitioners or patients- but I feel like the book meets neither audience's needs. Don't waste your time reading this - ChatGPT has been more helpful

[Lekeshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amber Walker did an excellent job in compiling all the research and information she has run across during her journey in understanding MCAS. So much research is still needed but this was a great start. No full answers are within these pages but if you are looking for a place to start, here it is.