The SomaLogic Blog

You’ve heard of insulin, right? You probably know that it helps regulate blood sugar, that its levels rise and fall depending on what and when you eat, and that a lot of diabetics have to inject themselves with it. But did you know that insulin is a protein?

Do you know how many different hats you wear in a day? Think about all the different roles you may take on during the course of the day – parent, significant other, boss, employee, cook, cleaner, accountant, household zookeeper, negotiator, etc.

Another forgetful moment…Keys found in fridge…Was it just due to it being Monday, to a poor night’s sleep or could it be something more alarming? Events such as these can raise the hairs on most people’s necks. If it turns out to be something worse than just sleep-deprivation, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the person and loved ones may be in for rough and expensive ride lasting decades as the afflicted brain – and its memories and functions – is erased.

Does a photograph provides the most realistic picture of you? It does not. A painting of you represented by thousands of small dots (an art style known as pointillism) would be the most realistic – especially from a health perspective. Why?

I would like to introduce you to you, but not the person you see in the mirror. No, I want to introduce you to “proteo-you,” the version of you made up of proteins. Meeting proteo-you could lead to a healthier you.

How well we age and what we will ultimately look like in our later years (if we get there) is, to a degree, within in our control.

A 2014 study estimated that about 5% of those who went to a doctor were misdiagnosed (Rettner, 2014). If the underlying condition was serious, misdiagnosis jumped to 20% (Bernstein, 2017). Yikes!

Finding DNA mutations that drive cancer development and growth can be akin to finding Waldo, the plucky 80’s cartoon lad wearing red and white stripe clothing and glasses hidden amongst a plethora of quirky characters.

2016 brought to public consciousness a new threat to humanity, arriving on the wings of mosquitoes: Zika virus (WHO, 2018a). Symptoms are mild for most of those infected, but the truly insidious and headline-making aspect to the disease is what happens to pregnant...

Unless you are stricken by a horrible blow of bad luck, good health can equate to more time on this planet. Great healthcare can help lead to better health, but at what cost?