Articles
Plain explanations of what these assessments measure, written for the person having them and for the clinician reading the report.
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The Endothelial Glycocalyx: The Lining Sugar Strips First
The Endothelial Glycocalyx: The Lining Sugar Strips First The endothelial glycocalyx is the soft gel lining the inside of your arteries that keeps blood cells from sticking, holds fluid inside the vessel and tells the artery when to widen. The inside of an artery is coated in a soft gel that decides how blood flows…
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Screening for Cirrhosis in Dementia: The Encephalopathy in the Chart
Screening for Cirrhosis in Dementia: The Encephalopathy in the Chart Screening for cirrhosis in dementia means computing a FIB-4 index from values already in the chart. In two national cohorts, 5% to 13% of patients with dementia had scores pointing to undiagnosed advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis, and hepatic encephalopathy, unlike most dementia, responds to treatment.…
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Fatty Liver Fibrosis Score: What Your FIB-4 Number Means
Fatty Liver Fibrosis Score: What Your FIB-4 Number Means A fatty liver fibrosis score such as FIB-4 turns your age, AST, ALT and platelet count into an estimate of liver scarring. A score under 1.3 makes advanced scarring unlikely, and 2.67 or higher points toward advanced fibrosis. Four values from a routine blood draw can…
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Weight-Adjusted Waist Index: Stroke Risk Screening in Hypertension
Weight-Adjusted Waist Index: Stroke Risk Screening in Hypertension In hypertensive adults aged 60 and older, a higher weight-adjusted waist index predicted new stroke after body mass index and waist circumference were already accounted for; the top quartile, an index of 10.80 or above, carried 1.87 times the stroke hazard of the bottom quartile. Blood pressure…
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The Cholinergic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway: What You Can Measure
An immune receptor, a motor receptor and a delivery route get merged into one claim. What the human evidence supports, what was never assayed, and which baseline belongs in the chart.
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Does Nicotine Raise Heart Rate? What Measurement Can Show
Heart rate climbs shortly after nicotine intake, and the one trial that asked about cardiovascular risk never printed a pulse. What was measured, what was skipped, and what you can have checked.
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Low Dose Naltrexone Mechanism of Action: Four Links, Each With a Tier
Rebound endorphin, duration of blockade, lymphocyte and Treg coupling, and TLR4 antagonism, each with its evidence tier, plus why naltrexone is not a direct mast cell stabilizer.
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How to Test for MCAS When Your Allergy Tests Keep Coming Back Negative
Allergy panels look for antibodies, not mast cells. The paired tryptase rule, the competing criteria, why histamine intolerance testing fails a blind, and what autonomic testing can add.