A TEENAGER with a rare condition is allergic to “almost everything” – including heat, water, perfumes and cleaning products.
Even a whiff of cooking oils could send Martina Baker, 15, into an anaphylactic shock which could kill her if she doesn’t receive immediate medical attention.
She’s also highly allergic to marijuana smoke which poses a problem in her home state of Maine, USA, where it’s legal.
Martina has Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), an immunological condition in which mast cells release exaggerated responses to external elements – putting the body in shock.
Marina was completely healthy until just over two years ago, when she suddenly developed terrifying symptoms.
“I wasn’t allergic to anything before, then one day I woke up with hives all over my body.
“I had to go to the hospital because I had an anaphylactic reaction. My throat started swelling up with hives. They treated me with an EpiPen.”
The school student’s problems only intensified from there.
“The hives would flare up all the time, she’d go into anaphylactic shock and we’d to have to rush her to the ER about three times a week,” said mum Loretta Leighton.
“We never knew what was triggering it really.
When a skunk sprayed outside Martina’s bedroom last summer, she went into anaphylactic shock and had to be rushed to A&E.
“Afterwards she had to go and live with a friend for almost two weeks while we had her bedroom windows and door completely sealed up, it was awful,” recalled Loretta.
For months doctors had been baffled by Martina’s condition.
“We took her to see a specialist in every major discipline, everything from cardiologists to psychologists,” said Loretta, who eventually took Martina to an immunologist in Massachusetts who diagnosed her.
Since then,, the enterprising teen has raised $10,000 (£7,756) and now has a highly-trained pup called Caiomhe who alerts her to possible dangers before they happen.
Thanks to Caiomhe, Martina was able to go to the cinema for the first time in years.
“Caiomhe has changed my life, I feel so much safer with her around, I am able to have a social life again,” said Martina, who was forced to miss school and stay at home in a sealed room to avoid anaphylactic shocks.
Last year, Loretta discovered that a service dog might help her daughter.
Jamie Robinson trained Caiomhe to identify a long list of smells that could be life-threatening triggers for Martina.
“A dog’s nose is about 100,000 times better than a human nose and just about every biochemical process in our bodies is indicated with a change in scent,” said Jamie, 66, who runs her own service dog business called Access to Service Corp.
Jamie had Martina send her pieces of clothing she had worn so Caiomhe could get used to her scent, including when she was in anaphylaxis because, to a dog, that scent is different.
“I lost a lot of friends after I developed MCAS, it’s hard for people to handle, for them to watch me collapse and have to take my EpiPen and be rushed to hospital all the time.
“It could be very lonely at times, but Caiomhe is always beside me protecting me, she’s a best friend for sure.
“She makes me feel less alone, she even checks up on me in the middle of the night.”
Thanks to Caiomhe and regular mast cell stabilizing drugs Martina’s anaphylactic episodes have reduced from three times a week to once every four to six weeks.
Martina often wears a mask when she goes outside and the family still has to be very careful in their home.
Loretta cleans with vinegar instead of cleaning products and has stopped using all detergents on sheets and clothing. They must practice “odorless cooking” and spend a lot of time grilling outside, even in winter.
Martina is extremely sensitive to warmth, so her bedroom isn’t heated at all, even during the freezing Maine winters.
“I don’t know how she tolerates the cold, she lives like a penguin in there,” Loretta said.
What is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome?
Mast cells are a type of blood cell which looks after the body’s immune system.
They react to foreign bodies and injury by releasing chemicals, which, in a healthy person, would protect and heal the body. In a person with MCAS, the body produces too much of these chemicals and that has a negative effect on the body.
Many sufferers struggle to identify their triggers and can keep on finding new ones to add to the list.
Triggers can include:
- Heat, cold or sudden temperature changes
- Stress: emotional, physical, including pain, or environmental (i.e., weather changes, pollution, pollen, pet dander, etc.)
- Exercise
- Fatigue
- Food or beverages, including alcohol
- Drugs (opioids, NSAIDs, antibiotics and some local anesthetics) and contrast dyes
- Natural odors, chemical odors, perfumes and scents
- Venoms (bee, wasp, mixed vespids, spiders, fire ants, jelly fish, snakes, biting insects, such as flies, mosquitos and fleas, etc.)
- Infections (viral, bacterial or fungal)
- Mechanical irritation, friction, vibration
- Sun/sunlight
Symptoms can differ according to what’s triggered the reaction.
They can include:
- flushing of the face, neck, and chest
- headache
- chest pain
- abdominal pain
- bloating
- acid reflux disease,
- diarrhoea, vomiting
- uterine cramps or bleeding
- rashes
- bone/muscle pain
- itching
- brain fog, cognitive dysfunction
- anxiety/depression
- lightheadedness
- anaphylaxis
Source: Mast Cell Action
Caiomhe can now sniff out when Martina is having a reaction before Martina realises it, because she can smell the release of histamine from her body.
Martina and three-year-old Caiomhe first came together a few weeks ago and are now inseparable.
“Martina has endured a lot of staring, pointing and rude remarks etc, people do not understand, it’s very difficult for her but she’s stayed extremely strong, I’m so proud of her,” said Loretta.
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“I feel that Caiomhe was destined to be my daughter’s guardian angel.
“In the pictures of Martina now with Caiomhe, I see joy, light and life. A spark that has been missing and robbed from her since this awful disease has taken ahold of her.
“Caiomhe brought that back to her in a new, wonderful and amazing way.”
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News Pictures Healthy teenager suddenly struck by deadly condition that means any strong SMELL could kill her
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