Just at the turn of the 21st century, mapping the genome was the focus of medicine, then the microbiome in the second decade, and in this third decade ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic, a spotlight has been placed on the critical importance of the interstitium (the extracellular matrix) of the fascia. I believe that all chronic disease should be approached with a fascial lens. In this case-based talk, we will review evidence of how sedentary lifestyle contributes to chronic disease through fascial pathways, how and why hypermobility conditions such as hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) and hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and Long Covid (LC) have shared pathophysiology. As a result of this presentation, the listener will gain a better understanding of how by looking at patients with a fascial lens, especially those with complex chronic disease, a logical and evidence-based treatment plan can be established for healing the root causes.  

Session Learning Objectives:

1.) Understand the role that fascia plays in all chronic disease.

2.) Understand why and when inflammation occurs in the interstitium (extracellular matrix) of the fascia from a sedentary lifestyle and environmental insults such as mold, viruses, and breast implants (breast implant illness or BII) and are worsened by genetic disorders such as hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), leading to multi-system disorders.

3.) Explore illustrative cases, such as breast implant illness (BII), mold illness, Long COVID (LC), and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) to understand why healing the fascia and restoring homeostasis in the fascia is critical in recovering from all chronic disease.