Episode 192: MCAS: Mast Cell Activation – What Are The Triggers with Beth O’hara

MCAS is triggered by Mold exposure and infections like Lyme, Co-infections, Strep and more. Dr. Deb and Beth O’hara talk about what causes Mast cell activation and how to treat it when you are so sensitive.

Do not miss these highlights:

04:18 What is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome?

07:42 People are sicker now, and we’re living in this incredibly toxic soup of a world.

10:43 The timeframe of MCAS treatment.

14:14 Defining Mast Cell Activation.

19:52 The symptoms of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.

26:11 Mold is the hardest thing people go through and for many people it’s traumatizing. What’s the remediation?

31:45 It is, and there’s no, there’s no one solution that works for everybody. It’s about looking at each individual person. So we also have a mold inspector who consults as a third party.

32:51 And then the other thing I share as you’re checking people out, is if a company tries to sell you that they can remediate your home only with a fogging solution and you don’t have to remove the mold. Runaway, please don’t give them any money. Because that doesn’t work. All it does is improve your air quality temporarily and locks you into having to have that treatment done again and again and again and again.

36:03 why children and pets are more heavily affected

37:56 How do you find a specialist to help you with Masel Activation?

44:49 only 10% of people are being diagnosed. So it doesn’t mean you don’t have it. If you don’t have a diagnosis.

46:05 the mold toxicity because of how destructive mold toxins are.

Resources Mentioned

Whether you are recovering from an illness or just looking to maintain your current overall health, schedule a consult with us at Serenity Health Care by calling (262)522-8640 or visit https://www.serenityhealthcarecenter.com

About our Guest:

I’m Beth O’Hara, and I work with clients with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. I am a Functional Naturopath and Functional Genetic Analyst. I have a Doctorate in Naturopathy specializing in Functional Naturopathic Approaches and a Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy. I found my own root causes contributing to my MCAS and have been able to heal. I can help you find your root causes too.

After decades of seeing traditional health care practitioners, I felt like I was at the end of my rope. The medications often made me worse. Being given the wrong supplements didn’t help either. Finally, I discovered a three part approach that helped me get well: Genetic Analysis, Functional Naturopathy, and Emotional Wellness. Combining the three approaches allowed me to explore genetic root causes underlying my MCAS. I analyzed my lab testing to better understand imbalances in my body. This helped me choose supplements personalized for my individual needs. Stress reduction techniques form a big part of my self-care as well. These things all allowed my body to heal. Since then, my passion is working with others with MCAS to find their root causes and support their healing.

I have been in practice for over 10 years and have helped hundreds of clients. I can help you too. Together, we will identify your unique root causes, analyze your lab results, and develop a customized healing plan based on your needs, goals, and lifestyle. I’m really looking forward to meeting you on this journey and guiding you in regaining your health, wellness, and full potential.

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Transcript of Episode 192

Debra Muth 0:02Welcome to Let’s Talk Wellness Now, I’m your host, Dr. Deb. This is where we talk about everything wellness, and learn to defy aging, and live our lives on our own terms. Welcome back to Let’s Talk Wellness Now, I’m your host, Dr. Deb and I have with me today Beth O’Hara, who’s a functional naturopath and a functional genetic analyst. And we are going to talk about mold exposure, mast cell activation, and How To Detoxify mold. This is a huge problem since 75% of our buildings today in the US are affected with some kind of mold issue. People do not realize how sick they can get from mold. So you’re gonna want to stay tuned and listen to this episode, and learn about how mold toxicity can cause problems for you and what you can do about it. Have you seen 20 Plus medical doctors only to be told your symptoms are in your head? Or you need an antidepressant? We understand your frustrations. Are you tired of feeling sick and tired? Tired of not getting the answers you need to regain your health? Tired of not feeling listened to by your doctor at Serenity Health Care Center, we understand and we will help you find the cause of your symptoms. Together we will create a path to health. We specialize in combining the best of conventional and natural medicine to get you back to doing what you love. We have worked with the most complex chronic diseases such as chronic Lyme COVID, long haulers, autoimmune disease, mold toxicity, and hormonal imbalances. But if you’re not sick, that’s fantastic. We will work with you to maintain your health so that you can prevent illness. give our office a call to see how we can help you regain your health and vitality at 262-522-8640. Or check us out at our website at Serenity health care center.com. So welcome back to Let’s Talk wellness. Now. I’m Dr. Deb. I am going to be speaking with Beth O’Hara, who is a naturopath and she works with clients with mast cell activation. She’s a functional naturopath, a functional genetic analyst. She has a doctorate in naturopathic specializing in functional naturopathic approaches, and a master’s in marriage and family therapy. She found her own root causes contributing to her issues with mast cell activation, and was able to heal them. If you cannot find the root cause you cannot treat it. So after decades of seeing traditional healthcare practitioners, Beth felt like she was at the end of her rope. Like so many of us who’ve had chronic illness, and with wrong diagnoses, wrong supplements, wrong medications, she finally figured out for herself what was causing her problems and was able to heal. So now she combines three approaches that allow her to explore the genetic root causes underlying her own mast cell and her clients to better understand the imbalances and help them heal. So without further ado, I’m going to bring on Dr. Beth O’Hara, and we’re going to talk about mast cell and mold toxicity. So Beth, welcome to the show.

Beth O’hara 3:49Thank you so much. I’m really excited about it. And I find over and over. This is a big lightbulb conversation for people with chronic illness. And it’s so common.

Debra Muth 3:59It is extremely common. You and I probably see it because that’s where we specialize in. But the unfortunate part that I see and I’d love to hear your opinion on this, too is how many people we see in the general public are who are seeing regular doctors over and over and over again for complications of things. And nobody is linking it back to their house being sick, or them having a chronic infection, or them even understanding what mast cell is because I find so many doctors don’t understand what mast cell is or how to treat it or anything. Can you talk a little bit about your experience with that?

Beth O’hara 4:36Well that’s exactly right. And I have a lot of clients. Not a lot but I’ve had a handful clients in medical school. And so they’re getting the like most up to date what’s being taught and they come in and say we had a one hour lecture on mast cells and mast cell activation syndrome still not being taught and we know it only got a diagnosis code in 2016 and It usually takes 10 to 20 years for medical school to catch up with the research for various reasons. The population studies that were done pre-COVID showed that 17% up to 17% of the general population has mast cell activation syndrome. That’s including healthy people. And then we know that COVID is a huge mast cell trigger that’s been established. And so all these people develop mast cell activation syndrome post-COVID. And don’t realize it. I think this is where we’re getting into all these issues with long COVID, which is a whole other conversation we can touch on. But because the mast cells aren’t being properly addressed, and when they’re being addressed in our clinic, we’re not seeing long haulers. So that’s been great. But I think this that 17% is now much higher, and we need new population studies, given what we’ve just been going through. And then when I talk with my colleagues in this area, we’re estimating that over 75% of people with chronic illness are dealing with mast cell activation syndrome. And this is a big thing that’s tying together going, you know, the GI symptoms and the neurological symptoms and the cardiovascular symptoms. But people are running from specialist to specialist, somebody has to tie it in. Yeah, what’s going on underneath? And then the biggest triggers, why are these mast cells dysregulated have to be identified and know that’s what we’re going to unpack here.

Debra Muth 6:31Yeah, absolutely. And I would agree with you, so many people that have chronic illness, have some degree of mast cell, I mean, it may not be full blown dysfunction, you know, they they have a major issue, but there’s some degree of it. And we’re seeing more and more of it than we ever have before in our chronic illness. I started treating Lyme disease and mold toxicity 25 years ago, we didn’t see the mast cell stuff back then the way we see it now. And maybe we just didn’t know it was there. And we didn’t know what to call it. Back then we called a lot of it chemical sensitivity. That was the big term back then. And now I look at it and go. I think that chemical ...