Imagine having a complex debilitating syndrome that affects nearly every part of your body. Because it’s invisible, and almost nobody has heard of it, you look like a hypochondriac. Now imagine having three such syndromes that exacerbate one another.
Welcome to ‘The Triad’
This film demystifies three interlinked syndromes that are common and treatable, but often needlessly devastating, due to lack of recognition. It explains underlying root causes, why most doctors miss it, effective treatments, and the ironic price paid by physicians who treat these complex conditions.
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The Triad Of Conditions
The film will explain the following interconnected chronic conditions:
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS)
Mast cells are primitive immune cells located all over the body, which can release different inflammatory chemicals into surrounding tissues when they detect a threat. They are famously involved with allergic responses and anaphylaxis (their best known chemicals being histamines), but they can also have numerous other effects, depending which chemicals are released and where. In MCAS, the mast cells are ‘trigger-happy’, inappropriately releasing chemicals in response to all sorts of triggers, ranging from foods, mold, infections, odors, temperature changes, mechanical pressure, vibration or even just stress. Symptoms vary depending on the location of the affected mast cells and types of chemicals released.
Dysautonomia
Think of all the things your body does for you automatically: digestion, temperature control, circulation, and much more. When those things don’t function properly, that’s dysautonomia. The most common form of dysautonomia in The Triad is POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), which is difficulty being upright, because the body isn’t doing a good job automatically adjusting to gravity when the body changes positions. In a nutshell, the body ‘can’t stand standing’ because not enough circulation reaches the brain, leading to dizziness, racing heart, weakness, brain fog and many other symptoms. POTS patients commonly have other assorted manifestations of dysautonomia too, such as problems with digestion. MCAS has several different mechanisms by which it may cause or exacerbate POTS and dysautonomia.
Hypermobility Syndromes
Hypermobility syndromes range from symptomatic joint hypermobility to genetic connective tissue disorders. In one such syndrome, hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), patients have faulty connective tissue — the body’s “scaffolding” — making it overly weak, fragile and/or stretchy. This can result in unstable joints, droopy intestines, floppy blood vessels, poor wound healing and many other symptoms secondary to these structural problems. People with hypermobility often make great gymnasts or dancers due to their joint flexibility, however life with hypermobile joints typically gets painful over time due to accumulated injury. Several chemicals released by mast cells are shown to contribute to connective tissue problems. Sagging veins, in turn, may contribute to POTS and weak mast cell membranes may contribute to inappropriate release of mast cell chemicals.