Last month, the Fifth International Fascia Research Congress was held in Berlin and emerging data suggest that these gelatinous membranes which envelop every tendon, bone, joint, muscle, nerve and organ in the body may be responsible for far more than simply holding us together like so much flexible scaffolding. This collagen-based intracellular matrix absorbs mechanical stress, and prevents our body weight from crushing our ankle joints. It may also play a large role in wellness and healthy aging.
New research indicates that certain cells found in the fascia communicate directly with the nervous system, each other, and with every other organ in the body. And if that’s true, it’s challenging the notion that it is solely the central nervous system which controls and mediates all the body’s systems.
Dr. Neil D. Theise, a liver pathologist at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, headed up a team of researchers using new 3-D confocal laser microscopy imaging technology. Scientific Reports published the findings in March:
“We observed ... the anatomy and histology of a previously unrecognized, though widespread, macroscopic, fluid-filled space within and between tissues, a novel expansion and specification of the concept of the human interstitium.”
