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Some clarity about Mast cells.

“A mast cell (or mastocyte) is a resident cell of several types of tissues and contains many granules rich in histamine and heparin. Although best known for their role in allergy and anaphylaxis, mast cells play an important protective role as well, being intimately involved in wound healing and defense against pathogens.”

Mast cells are part of the bodies fat, and the more fat you have, the more mast cells you have. However, when mast cells are irritated, they release histamines into the body. Think of a mild allergic reaction.

This irritation tend to aggravate immune system disorders like diabetes and arthritis, and a bunch of others. And the irritation tends to prolong the irritation of the mast cells. Irritated mast cells irritate themselves.

Plus, importantly, irritated mast cells tell the body to store more fat.

So rheumatologists are now advising their patients to lose weight, because this will reduce the number of mast cells, and thus the irritation to their arthritis.

But this is kind of putting the cart before the horse, because it will be extra hard to lose weight with irritated mast cells.

This is where these drugs come in to play. They are antihistamines for the mast cells. They soothe the mast cells, so they stop dumping histamines. And your body, instead of trying to put on more weight, realizes it is overweight, and tries to shed pounds and return to a more normal weight.

Importantly, the scientists didn’t say *how much* of these drugs was needed for the effect.

But assuming they are about the same strength, the Zaditor’s active ingredient, Ketotifen, is .025% strength, which is equivalent to ketotifen fumarate at .035%.

NasalCrom (I couldn’t help but laugh. The preferred nasal spray of barbarians). Cromolyn sodium, at 40 milligrams per milliliter.

But before you run right out and chug-a-lug either of these drugs, it is important to note:

“Cromolyn sodium is poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. After instillation of cromolyn sodium nasal solution, less than 7% of the total dose administered is absorbed and is rapidly excreted unchanged in the bile and urine. The remainder of the dose is expelled from the nose, or swallowed and excreted via the alimentary tract.”

But this is kind of putting the cart before the horse, because it will be extra hard to lose weight with irritated mast cells.

But it can be done, with perseverance. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis 2 years ago, and since then have lost enough weight (a lot) to bring my BMI into normal range. My RA is now completely under control without medication. The only supplements I take are fish oil and vitamin D. I stopped going to my rheumatologist because she doesn't believe that I could possibly be healthy without taking that poisonous RA medication, even though all of my inflammation markers are back within normal range and I feel fine.

Thanks for the tutorial on mast cells! Very interesting.

I am wondering if antihistamines similar to the ones studied might have some effect. I had terrible allergies for years, and consequently was taking tons of antihistamines all the time — and I was always skinny as a rail. When I turned 30, my husband and I moved to a different area of the country, and most of my allergies calmed down because the irritants weren’t in the air in the new location. I pretty much quit taking antihistamines, after having taken them all my life. At the same time, I started to gain weight — a little at a time, slowly but surely. At the time I blamed it on hitting 30. Now I wonder — what would happen if I went back on daily antihistamines?

My antihistamine of choice (when I need it, which is rarely) is clemastine fumarate, which I believe is somewhat similar to the ketotifen fumarate mentioned in the article. I think I’ll take it for a month and see what happens!