A story about a child who gets hives easily even from small stimuli due to mastocytosis
The story of a baby who had red spots all over his body and was difficult to hug or go out with was introduced.
According to the British daily The Sun, Laura Smith (30), who lives in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, started to develop red marks on her back and chest when she was 3 months old. She visited doctors several times, but they mistakenly attributed the cause to atopy, allergies, eczema, moles, and chickenpox, and in the meantime, the symptoms began to spread more widely. Laura tried many things, such as changing her child’s diet, using different cleaning products, and stopping the medicine she was giving her, but the symptoms did not improve.
It was only when the child was 17 months old that he was finally diagnosed by a dermatologist. The disease he had was mastocytosis. Mast cells contain histamine and heparin. GranuleIt is a type of white blood cell that has a granulocyte differentiated from myeloid stem cells. It is found in various tissues including the skin, connective tissue of various organs, and mucosal epithelial tissue of the respiratory, genitourinary, and digestive tracts.
Laura is still learning what triggers her child’s symptoms. So far, she has learned that certain foods, sweat, teething, hugging, tickling, and emotions like anger or excitement trigger her symptoms. Mastocytosis puts her at risk for a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction, when the mast cells release large amounts of histamine into the bloodstream. This means that while the child has the condition, she is at risk for an anaphylactic reaction at any time. This means Laura is constantly on edge. Still, she is trying to give her child as normal a childhood as possible.
“I’m even cautious about holding my baby because it can cause allergic reactions,” Laura explains. “They’re still babies, so I still prioritize holding them and meeting their emotional needs, but I have to be careful not to rub them too hard. Even just tickling them can cause a rash.”
If you take him to a soft play area (a children’s play facility made of soft material), you have to make him sit for 10 minutes to calm down. This is because even such a minor emotional change can make his symptoms worse. He likes to play in the garden, but he is also afraid that a bee sting will cause excessive histamine secretion and cause anaphylactic shock.
The most frustrating thing is the attitude of people. Many people ask if you are contagious when you go out, and some parents keep their children away for fear of catching it. “I am willing to answer questions, but I hope they are not rude,” Laura said. “It breaks my heart to think that my child will have to be asked these questions as he grows up.”
Fortunately, her symptoms have been managed a little better since she was diagnosed. Thanks to antihistamines, her symptoms, which used to flare up 6-7 times a week before her diagnosis, have now dropped to 3-4 times a week. Laura said she is spending each day hoping that her child will get better as he grows up.
Mastocytosis, a disease caused by pathological accumulation of mast cells in tissues
Mast cells have nothing to do with weight gain or obesity. Mastocytosis is a disease in which mast cells accumulate pathologically in body tissues, and various clinical symptoms appear due to mediators secreted by mast cells. It is a type of immune cell that secretes mediators such as histamine and tryptase when allergens enter the body. The most commonly invaded organ is the skin, but it also invades the bone marrow, liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. It usually occurs in children, and 60-80% occur within the first year of life. It is reported that 18-31% of cases occur congenitally. It can also occur in adults, and most have no family history.
Symptoms occur in organs invaded by mast cells due to mediators secreted by mast cells. In cases where the skin is invaded as in this case, itching, hives, redness, and blisters may appear.
Mastocytosis is broadly classified into cutaneous mastocytosis, inactive systemic mastocytosis, systemic mastocytosis with clonal hematologic disease of non-mastocytocyte lineage, aggressive systemic mastocytosis, and extracutaneous mastocytoma. Most children show cutaneous mastocytosis patterns. Among them, pigmentary urticaria, which is the most common pattern, is a type in which yellowish-brown or brown spots and papules measuring 1 to 2.5 cm in diameter appear all over the body. It occurs frequently on the trunk and does not occur on the face, scalp, palms, and soles.
The cause of mastocytosis is not fully known, but it is known to be related to mutations in the c-kit gene. There is no cure, and the goal of treatment is to relieve symptoms.
Source: kormedi.com
