Glossary
Glymphatic system
A proposed route by which fluid enters the brain along arteries and leaves along veins, carrying waste. Whether sleep speeds that clearance or slows it is disputed.
Published Updated
Where this comes from
In the reference topic that owns this term
Reference topic 9, The Invisible River, states the mismatch as a card: what the system evolved to expect, what it gets instead, and what happens in the gap.
Mismatch card
- What it expects
Kilometers of walking a day, shifting postures, regular nights of sleep.
- What it gets
Unbroken sitting, long-haul seats, short nights and, for some, severe obesity.
- What happens in the gap
Swollen feet, more clots on long journeys, lymphatic failure at very high BMI; after sleep loss, amyloid rises of uncertain meaning.
What that chapter recommends
3 of the 6 graded recommendations in Reference topic 9, strongest evidence first. How the grades work.
With lymphedema, work with a specialist
StrongEvidence grade: Strong. Multiple randomized controlled trials, or consistent large cohort studies with a well-understood mechanism.Slowly progressive weight training, begun under supervision, did not worsen breast-cancer-related lymphedema in one trial. In another, it did not trigger lymphedema in women at risk.
Break up sitting and move your feet while seated
ProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.No lymph dose has been tested, but a foot free to move swelled half as much as a still one over eight hours of sitting.
Walk daily
ProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.A slow 15-minute walk widened the thoracic duct in a small study, and working leg muscles clear lymph three to six times faster than resting ones.
The argument behind this term, its studies and its notes are in Reference topic 9 of the reference library. The book gives the practical version. Get the book.