Research.
Every peer-reviewed study on fascia in one place — graded for strength of evidence, summarised in plain language for clinicians, researchers, and curious patients.
We grade studies from A to 1A+++ using the Fascia Research Database rubric — 1A+++ is the strongest.
Fecal and urinary incontinence after vaginal delivery with anal sphincter disruption in an obstetrics unit in the United States
This study investigated the link between severe perineal tears during a first vaginal delivery and later incontinence issues. Researchers sent questionnaires about pelvic floor function to women six months after they ga…
Prevalence of urinary and fecal incontinence and symptoms of genital prolapse in women
This questionnaire study investigated the links between urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and symptoms of genital prolapse in Swedish women. The researchers found that these three conditions often occur together…
Tensegrity II. How structural networks influence cellular information processing networks
This theoretical article, the second in a two-part series, explores how a cell's physical structure influences its internal signaling and behavior. It builds on the "tensegrity" model, which describes the cell's skeleto…
New and active role of the interstitium in control of interstitial fluid pressure: potential therapeutic consequences
This review challenges the traditional view of the interstitium as merely a passive fluid reservoir. The researchers present data suggesting that connective tissue cells and the extracellular matrix actively regulate in…
Left-right asymmetry of biophoton emission from hemiparesis patients
This small study investigated biophoton emission, a type of ultra-weak light emitted by the body, from the hands of seven patients with hemiparesis (one-sided muscle weakness). Researchers observed a strong tendency for…
Tensegrity I. Cell structure and hierarchical systems biology
This review article revisits the concept of tensegrity, a structural model for living cells first described a decade prior. The tensegrity model helps explain how cells control their shape, movement, and internal mechan…
Mechanobiology and diseases of mechanotransduction
This 2003 article argues that medicine often overlooks the physical and mechanical aspects of disease, focusing instead on genetics. The author reviews how physical forces and the extracellular matrix are vital for norm…
The Common Compensatory Pattern: Its Origin and Relationship to the Postural Model
As only the title of this paper is available, we cannot summarize its contents in detail. The title suggests the article explores a concept known as the 'Common Compensatory Pattern'. The author likely discusses the ori…
Effects of insulin lispro and chronic vitamin C therapy on postprandial lipaemia, oxidative stress and endothelial function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
People with type 2 diabetes often experience impaired blood vessel function and high levels of fat in their blood after eating, which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This study investigated whether insulin…
Detection of changes in cartilage water content using MRI T2-mapping in vivo
Early-stage osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by an elevated water content in cartilage. This study investigated if a specific MRI technique, T2-mapping, could detect these changes in living subjects. Healthy volunte…
Evidence of Connective Tissue Involvement in Acupuncture
Researchers investigated the "needle grasp" phenomenon in acupuncture, where it becomes harder to pull a needle out after manipulation. They hypothesized this is caused by connective tissue winding around the needle, ra…
Relationship of Acupuncture Points and Meridians to Connective Tissue Planes
Researchers investigated the hypothesis that the network of acupuncture points and meridians could represent the body's network of interstitial connective tissue. By mapping points in anatomical cross-sections of a huma…
Mammalian Hyaluronan Synthases
This 2002 review article describes the three enzymes that produce hyaluronan (HA) in mammals: HAS1, HAS2, and HAS3. These three enzyme isoforms have different characteristics and create different sizes of HA molecules.…
Oligosaccharides of Hyaluronan Activate Dendritic Cells via Toll-like Receptor 4
During inflammation, components of our connective tissue like hyaluronic acid (HA) can break down. This study investigated how small fragments of HA affect the immune system. Researchers found that these fragments activ…
Effects of Biomechanical Stress on Bones in Animals
This animal study investigated how bones adapt to mechanical stress. The researchers found that cyclic loading, like in exercise, creates fluid flow within the bone that signals it to adapt. The rate of this loading is…
Age-related Changes in the Collagen Network and Toughness of Bone
This study investigated how the collagen network in bone tissue changes with age and how this affects bone toughness. Researchers analyzed 30 femurs from human cadavers, with donors ranging from 19 to 89 years of age. T…
Adhesive capsulitis: role of MR imaging in differential diagnosis
This study investigated whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can identify the changes typical of adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder). Researchers compared MRI scans from 24 patients with clinical evidence of froze…
Hyaluronan and its catabolic products in tissue injury and repair
This narrative review explores the role of hyaluronan (HA), a common component of connective tissue, in the body's response to injury. In healthy tissues, HA exists as a large molecule that helps maintain structural int…
Collagen accumulation in muscles of children with cerebral palsy and correlation with severity of spasticity
This study investigated the link between connective tissue and muscle function in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Researchers analyzed muscle samples from 26 children, comparing collagen content to clinical measures…
Mechanical signaling through connective tissue: a mechanism for the therapeutic effect of acupuncture
This paper proposes a hypothesis for how acupuncture might work. The authors focus on the "de qi" sensation, which includes the acupuncturist feeling a "needle grasp" in the tissue. They suggest that when an acupuncture…
Hyaluronan and Homeostasis: A Balancing Act
As only the title of this paper is available, it has not yet been summarized. The title suggests the article discusses the role of hyaluronan in maintaining homeostasis, the body's state of physiological balance. This i…
Effect of Mechanical Load on Articular Cartilage Collagen Structure: A Scanning Electron-Microscopic Study
This study on rabbit knees examined how static mechanical loads affect the collagen structure of articular cartilage. Researchers applied varying levels of force for different durations to simulate muscle activity, then…
Role of collagen hydrolysate in bone and joint disease
This narrative review examines the role of collagen hydrolysate in the management of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Research suggests that a daily intake of 10 grams of pharmaceutical-grade collagen hydrolysate may he…
Adhesive Capsulitis
In this 2000 review article, the authors examine adhesive capsulitis, or frozen shoulder, a condition of unknown cause that restricts shoulder motion. They review what is known about its etiology and critically evaluate…
Oral Administration of 14C Labeled Gelatin Hydrolysate Leads to an Accumulation of Radioactivity in Cartilage of Mice (C57/BL)
In this animal study, researchers investigated how gelatin hydrolysate is absorbed and distributed in the bodies of mice. Using a radioactive label, they tracked the gelatin after it was administered orally. The results…
Tensegrity and mechanoregulation: from skeleton to cytoskeleton
This review article explores how mechanical forces are transmitted from the whole body down to individual cells. The authors propose that a design principle called "tensegrity," which uses continuous tension and local c…
The Architecture of Life
As this is a title-only entry, the full text has not yet been reviewed. The title, "The Architecture of Life," suggests a focus on the structural principles governing biological systems, possibly involving concepts like…
Thyroid hormone-induced upregulation of Na channels and Na-K pumps: implications for contractility
In this animal study, researchers investigated how thyroid hormone affects muscle endurance in rats. They treated rats with the hormone T3, which increased the concentration of both sodium (Na+) channels and sodium-pota…
Functional morphology of serially linked skeletal muscle fibers
Skeletal muscle fibers don't always run the full length of a muscle; they often link together in series. This study describes two main ways these connections occur: end-to-end via connective tissue plates, or by overlap…
Mechanical Loading and TGF-b Regulate Proteoglycan Synthesis in Tendon
Tendons can develop cartilage-like properties in areas subjected to compressive loading. In this study on fetal bovine tendon tissue, researchers investigated how mechanical compression affects the cells. They found tha…
Tensegrity: The Architectural Basis of Cellular Mechanotransduction
This 1997 review article proposes a model for how cells sense and respond to physical forces, a process called mechanotransduction. The author suggests that cells are built using 'tensegrity' architecture, a system of b…
Biophoton emission of the human body
Researchers measured "ultraweak" photon emissions, or biophotons, from the human body using a sensitive light detector. The study, involving about 200 individuals, found that these emissions are not random. They appear…
Selective regulation of myofiber differentiation by energy status during postnatal development
In this animal study, researchers investigated how energy intake and environmental temperature affect muscle development in young pigs. The pigs were divided into groups that received either a high or low energy intake…
Clinical consequences of anal sphincter rupture during vaginal delivery
This study investigated the incidence and consequences of anal sphincter tears during childbirth. Researchers followed 51 women with a diagnosed tear and 31 women without one for six months after delivery. They found th…
Effects of continuous and Intermittent forces on human fibroblasts in vitro
This in vitro study investigated how human connective tissue cells (fibroblasts) respond to different types of mechanical force. Researchers grew fibroblasts on flexible membranes and subjected them to either continuous…
Triggerband technique
The Triggerband Technique is a manual therapy approach for treating musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. It is based on the idea that distorted or injured fascial bands are the cause of many types of physical discomfor…
Glutathione-Ascorbic Acid Antioxidant System in Animals
This 1994 publication by Alton Meister discusses the biochemical interaction between glutathione and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) within animal antioxidant systems. As the source material is limited to the title, the summa…
Anal-sphincter disruption during vaginal delivery
Researchers investigated how often hidden (occult) damage to the anal sphincter occurs during vaginal childbirth and how it affects bowel control. They studied over 200 women before and after delivery using ultrasound a…
Angiogenic oligosaccharides of hyaluronan enhance the production of collagens by endothelial cells
This study investigated how small fragments of hyaluronan (HA) affect collagen production during the formation of new blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. Researchers observed that applying these HA fragments t…
Immunological evidence for the accumulation of lipoprotein(a) in the atherosclerotic lesion of the hypoascorbemic guinea pig
This animal study investigated the link between vitamin C, a specific cholesterol particle called Lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a), and atherosclerosis. Researchers found that guinea pigs, which like humans cannot produce their…
Endothelial Growth Factors and Extracellular Matrix Regulate Dna Synthesis Through Modulation of Cell and Nuclear Expansion
This study investigated how the extracellular matrix (ECM) and growth factors work together to regulate the growth of capillary endothelial cells, which line blood vessels. Researchers found that these cells needed both…
Structure and Properties of Ground Substances
This 1984 review outlines the structure of the body's 'ground substance,' the matrix found both within and between our cells. The author describes how this substance is composed of different biopolymers in the extracell…
THE INFLUENCE OF MECHANICAL FORCES ON THE GLYCOSAMINOGLYCAN CONTENT OF THE RABBIT FLEXOR DIGITORUM PROFUNDUS TENDON
In this animal study on rabbits, researchers surgically altered the mechanical forces on a deep finger flexor tendon to observe how the tissue adapted. They analyzed how the content of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs)—molecule…
Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer: Reevaluation of prolongation of survival times in terminal human cancer
This study compared the survival times of 100 terminal cancer patients who received supplemental ascorbate (vitamin C) with 1000 matched control patients who did not. The ascorbate-treated group was found to have a mean…
Ascorbic acid status in idiopathic hemochromatosis
This study investigated Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) levels in patients with idiopathic hemochromatosis, a condition characterized by excessive iron accumulation. The results showed that untreated patients had significantl…
SYNTHESIS AND SOME MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF VITAMIN C IN ANIMALS
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is essential for most living things, but some animals, including humans, cannot produce it themselves. Historically, determining an animal's ability to synthesize Vitamin C required feeding…
Orthomolecular psychiatry. Varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease
In this 1968 theoretical paper, the concept of orthomolecular psychiatry is introduced. The author proposes that mental illness may result from imbalances in the concentrations of substances normally present in the brai…