Taking the Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Test
The Array 20 test available from Cyrex Labs
If you played contact sports in which your head sustained repeated blows, you may have sustained damage resulting in a dysfunctional or ‘leaky’ blood-brain barrier, also known as a leaky brain.
This means that as blood flows into the brain, substances in the blood that are normally kept out of the brain can pass right through. This leads to chronic inflammation of the brain. As you might imagine, that isn’t a good thing.
One may develop a leaky brain without any head trauma, perhaps from a viral or bacterial infection, from chronically eating foods one is allergic to, or perhaps from dysfunctions of the gut (including a leaky gut) that may lead to a leaky brain.
It is now believed that a wide variety of neuro-psychiatric conditions may be triggered or sustained by such chronic inflammation of the brain.
If one has a precondition of a leaky brain prior to head trauma, that could make recovery that much more difficult.
You may have brought up the possibility of blood-brain-barrier permeability issues with your physician only to have them shrug as if you were talking about the unknowable mysteries of the universe. Dark matter perhaps or what’s on the other side of a black hole.
Well, in the entirely knowable universe, there is a test for blood-brain barrier permeability. It’s available from Cyrex Labs. Here’s how they describe it.
Array 20 assists in the assessment of increased risk of neurogenerative disorders, including but not limited to multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, senile dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and stroke. Helps in the early investigation of contact sports-related traumatic brain injury (TBI), and evaluates the breach of the Blood-Brain barrier caused by stress, trauma or environmental triggers, even in the absence of apparent concussion or brain injury.
In addition to Array 20, Cyrex offers a variety of tests that can take the guesswork out of resoloving issues that are either directly or indirectly contributing to things like brain fog, headaches and more.
These lab tests include a leaky gut test and Array 10, which looks at possible autoimmune reactions to both cooked and raw foods, amongst other things.
If you suspect that you’re suffering from such issues, seek out a functional medicine doctor (use the IFM’s Find a Practitioner tool) and ask them about ordering these tests via Cyrex.
The results could lead to specific corrective actions provided by your functional medicine practitioner. The results might also rule things out so you can focus your energies elsewhere. That’s half the reason to do any testing. And it’s better than merely shrugging your shoulders.
Brainwave is an informational resource for people whose symptoms haven’t resolved after a concussion or mTBI. I aim to present this information in a clear and concise way, spelling out what’s backed by science and what remains unknown. Nothing here is meant as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. I am not a physician or a healthcare practitioner of any kind; I’ve had a lot of sports-related concussions and had to learn this stuff the hard way. If you found this information helpful or know someone who might benefit from it, please share and subscribe to Brainwave.