STAT Plus: To quell unpredictable allergic reactions, an experimental drug takes aim at a genetic cause, not symptoms
The last time Melanie Wardell was thrown into anaphylactic shock, an ad for Macy’s was to blame.
Wardell, 45, was thumbing through a magazine and came upon one of those inserts daubed with perfume. Just the scent triggered her systemic mastocytosis, a rare disorder that leads to unpredictable allergic reactions. It knocked her completely unconscious.
