Non-invasive health testing · St. Louis
Measura for patients
Measura testing for patients is a set of non-invasive assessments of circulation, small nerve fibers, heart rate variability, resting metabolism and balance, done in St. Louis without a referral. They find changes a standard physical misses.
If you have been told your labs are “basically fine” while you still feel tired, numb, dizzy or unwell, this is what testing the things nobody measured looks like.
Measura measures function rather than opinion. It looks at how well blood is actually reaching your feet, whether the smallest nerve fibers in your skin are still working, how flexible your heart rate is from one beat to the next, how much energy your body burns at rest, and how steady you are on your feet. None of that is visible on a standard physical, and most of it changes years before a diagnosis becomes obvious.
Start here
Should I be tested?
There is a defined risk group, and it is broader than most people expect. Who should be tested
What actually happens?
A walkthrough of the appointment, cuff by cuff and sensor by sensor. What to expect
What do the numbers mean?
How to read the report you take home, and which numbers matter most. Understanding your results
Which symptoms are worth testing?
Numbness, burning or tingling
Small nerve fibers are usually the first to go, and they are the ones a standard nerve test misses. Peripheral neuropathy symptoms and sudomotor dysfunction.
Legs that ache when you walk
Cramping in the calves or thighs that stops when you stop is a circulation question with an objective answer. Circulation and leg symptoms.
Dizziness, unsteadiness or a fall
Balance is an inner-ear, vascular and neurological problem at the same time. Dizziness, balance and falls.
Fatigue and weight that will not move
Measured metabolic rate answers a question that calculators only estimate. Metabolic rate and energy and body composition versus BMI.
Blood pressure, prediabetes and heart risk
Vascular changes are measurable long before an event. Early cardiovascular risk and insulin resistance.
Memory and word-finding
A short structured cognitive screen gives a baseline you can compare against later. Memory and cognitive screening.
How many adults are metabolically healthy?
Under 12.2% of American adults met a full definition of optimal metabolic health in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 2009 to 2016, and under 7% do on the tighter criteria applied after 2021. In the Padda Institute patient population the picture is starker still: fewer than 3% of patients overall, and fewer than 1% of chronic pain patients, meet the same definition of metabolic health. Those are practice-reported figures from our own population, not trial outcomes, and individual results vary.
Read that as encouragement rather than a verdict. Most of what those definitions capture — waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol — responds to changes people can actually make, and responds faster when you can see it moving.
Talk to someone about testing
Tell us what you are trying to find out and we will explain which Measura assessments answer that question, what each one involves, and how the results are reviewed with a clinician.
4477 Woodson Rd, Suite 201, St. Louis, MO 63134. Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Please do not send symptoms, diagnoses or images through a web form — a website form is not a secure medical channel. Send your name and number and we will call you back.
Common questions
Do I need a referral?
No. You can arrange testing yourself, and we will send the report to whichever clinician you name. More on referrals and reports.
How long does the appointment take?
Plan on most of a morning or afternoon for a full assessment; individual studies are much shorter. How long testing takes.
Will the testing tell me what is wrong?
It will tell you what is measurably abnormal. Turning that into a diagnosis is a conversation with a clinician who knows your history and your medications. What a result can and cannot tell you.
How often should it be repeated?
That depends entirely on what the first assessment finds and what is being changed as a result. How often to repeat testing.
What does a metabolic test include?
At Measura it covers more than blood work. The assessments check how well blood reaches your feet, whether the smallest nerve fibers in your skin still work, how flexible your heart rate is from one beat to the next, how much energy your body burns at rest, and how steady you are on your feet. None of it needs a referral.
What are the five markers of metabolic health?
The definitions of metabolic health look at five measures: waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol. Under 12.2% of American adults met a full definition in the national survey for 2009 to 2016. All five respond to changes people can actually make, and they respond faster when you can see them moving.
Is metabolic testing worth it?
If you have been told your labs are basically fine while you still feel tired, numb, dizzy or unwell, testing measures what a standard physical does not. Most of these changes show up years before a diagnosis becomes obvious. Read what you find as encouragement rather than a verdict: it tells you where to start.
A patient’s account
Mary Hayden was treated at the Padda Institute, the pain practice Dr. Padda directs. Her account is about her own recovery rather than about any single assessment, and it is published with her permission.
One person’s experience. Individual results vary, and nothing here is a prediction of what any assessment will find or what any treatment will achieve for you.
References
- Araújo J, Cai J, Stevens J. Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009–2016. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders. 2019;17(1):46–52. doi:10.1089/met.2018.0105
Medically reviewed by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP, medical director of Measura. Last reviewed .