Mast cell action

We are a rare diseases charity established at the end of 2015 to respond to Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). MCAS is a crippling, unpredictable and frightening condition affecting the immune system. Sufferers from MCAS have “wrongly programmed” immune systems that react to a wide range of triggers including food, drink, stress, temperature and many others. The effects range from unpleasant allergic reactions, through to an overall debilitation resulting in people being unable to leave their houses. It was first recognised internationally in 1990, with a set of diagnostic criteria agreed in 2011, but is little known or understood in the UK, where incidence seems to be increasing. Here patients can wait 3-5 years for a diagnosis, often receive very little knowledge or help from within the medical establishment and can find themselves in a frightening limbo. (More on the disease can be found on our website: www.mastcellaction.org or on Facebook). Our vision is to ensure that everybody suffering from MCAS in the UK receives adequate support, can expect knowledgeable diagnosis & care, and can look to a future in which the disease is actively researched, better understood and more effectively treated. In sum we aim to improve the lives of MCAS sufferers by giving them a voice, recruiting and supporting doctors & researchers, and lobbying policy-makers.