Ever heard of the glycocalyx? It comes as no surprise if your answer is “sort of”—or even a resounding “no.” But it’s critical to understand what it is, since it happens to be the most important part of our cardiovascular system and the literal foundation of our overall health! You may look and even feel healthy on the outside, but inside your microvascular system, a completely different situation could be developing.
What Is the Glycocalyx?
Put simply, the glycocalyx is the Teflon-like lining of all our blood vessels. It is made up of a micro-thin gel and is the largest organ in the body that protects the inside walls of our entire circulatory system. Our blood vessels are not just hollow tubes that our blood flows through – there’s so much more going on inside.
The integrity of the glycocalyx is extremely important. We have over 60,000 miles of microvessels that comprise 99% of our vascular system. At the “sweet spot” of nutrient-, oxygen-, and waste-product exchange to and from our tissues and organs lies the tiniest microvessels, just 4–6 microns thick. If the glycocalyx is compromised and the single-cell thick vessel wall is exposed, it leaves the vessel vulnerable to damage. A compromised/damaged glycocalyx can become leaky and tissues and organs can begin to starve due to lack of nutrients and oxygen, leading to health decline.
Early warning signs of declining health due to a damaged glycocalyx are fatigue, cold hands and feet, thinning hair, memory loss, blood sugar imbalances, blood pressure inconsistencies, lack of focus, and slow wound healing. Scientific research tells us that endothelial glycocalyx dysfunction can progress to several diseases and conditions.
The Role and Health of the Glycocalyx
Many researchers consider the endothelial glycocalyx as a first line of defense against vascular diseases. You cannot have healthy vascular walls without a healthy glycocalyx.
Other functions of the glycocalyx include the regulation of vascular permeability, fluid balance, and the synthesis of nitric oxide in response to the blood flow. The surface of the glycocalyx helps maintain endothelial function.
Meet the GlycoCheck!
For many years, the medical field has only analyzed a portion of the vascular system – the veins, arteries, and heart. However, those comprise only 1% of the surface area of all the vessels in your body, with the microvascular system making up the other 99%.
Until recently, those microvessels weren’t given much attention in the medical field. Due to their tiny size, they couldn’t be measured, couldn’t be operated on, and couldn’t be examined and assessed. There has been no instrumentation small enough to evaluate and mitigate any issue with the glycocalyx – until now!
The GlycoCheck is an FDA-registered, Class 1 medical device that allows the function of the microvascular system to be measured and analyzed, monitoring the status of the endothelial glycocalyx lining inside the microvessels. The device has been heavily researched around the globe, and there is no other device that tests to this level – it is a truly one-of-a-kind, life-changing system. Once only used in hospitals and universities, GlycoCheck is now available for practitioners!
How Does GlycoCheck Work?
GlycoCheck is a non-invasive test that produces a Microvascular Health Score that reveals the health of the microvessels by measuring several key parameters of the microvascular system:
- Capillary Density
- Capillary Blood Volume Recruitment Capacity
- Capillary Blood Volume Dynamic
- Perfused Boundary Region Flow Corrected
- Microvascular Health Score (MVHS):
This is the overall score based on capillary density, recruitment capacity, and glycocalyx health. A higher score means better microvascular health.
Clearly, the health of the epithelial glycocalyx has an impact on all aspects of our overall health. It seems strange that we’ve only just recently developed a means to analyze and measure this – but finally, we can.
Knowing the importance of the glycocalyx and how it can be evaluated is a great first couple of steps. At Microvascular Solutions, we evaluate with a patented diagnostic device to determine an individual’s Microvascular Health Score. We provide a clinically proven solution to improve the health of your endothelial glycocalyx. You will be armed with the information you need to improve the health of your epithelial glycocalyx – and therefore, your overall health and well-being. We look forward to meeting you!
Lisa Sprague, MSS, PTA, LMT, is a licensed healthcare practitioner with over 35 years of experience. She has been in private practice since 1999 and specializes in frequency-based medicine and advanced wellness technologies. Lisa believes in treating the whole to heal the part, empowering you to optimize your health and well-being, and bringing self-care back into your healthcare.
Susan LoManto’s passion is her curiosity to learn about how the body works and what it needs to operate at the highest level. As a breast cancer survivor, Susan realized early on that nothing is more important than a healthy lifestyle. In her constant search for the root of well-being, she has finally found the missing link.
Microvascular Solutions is located at 5633 Strand Blvd., Ste. 312, in Naples. Contact Susan and Lisa at: info@microvascularsolutions.com and visit: microvascularsolutions.com for more information.