USA: InCellDx Dr Patterson - New lab service offering cytokine tests to Covid longhaulers

Sorry to lower the tone and agree thoroughly with what has been said so far on this.

Firstly I can't get past the company name. IncellDx. They have the same over in the USA or it came over from there, it's known enough you'd surely want to tweak to dissociate from any bad thoughts/things to do with the name? I can't help but find it offputting/it making me think differently about the company - it'd have to be extra well-evidenced and reputed etc because of that I'm sorry but just making me wonder a bit (silly or not it is just a horrible association for me, and noting ME/CFS and lots of other conditions affects many women it is pretty pertinent surely).

Secondly as usual I can't help but noticing how in the article similar scrutiny and doubt automatically isn't given to the big clinics suggesting exercise therapy or whatnot is necessary. I get that it isn't big promises (maybe) and drugs, but given what we've learned and the history of big promises on exercise etc it is interesting how it still 'seems more conservative' and doesn't flag in the same way

 

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/97431

IncellDx at Odds Over Long COVID Protocols — Both groups face scrutiny over long COVID recommendations

IncellDx, a company that's marketing a diagnostic and treatment plan for long COVID, says it's not at all associated with the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) after being listed on the organization's website.

Both IncellDx and the FLCCC have received criticism for promoting long COVID protocols absent substantial evidence for any treatments. MedPage Today previously reported that doctors treating patients at hospital-based centers for post-COVID care have raised concerns about potential dangers of the FLCCC's "I-RECOVER" protocol, which, at the time, referenced being developed in collaboration with physicians associated with IncellDx and the company itself.

 

Ah, yes, he is denying the ivermectin connection now (that's what FLCCC is mostly about). Let me quote an earlier comment of mine from this thread:

"I had to educate myself quite early on on Patterson (and also the people pushing ivermectin) because they had a large social media presence and were quite popular among covid long haulers since almost the beginning, at least in the groups I joined here in Hungary."

I specifically mentioned the ivermectin guys because I remembered that in the beginning there was certainly some sort of association between Patterson and them, I remember videos with both of them in it etc. Patterson also promoted ivermectin himself back then, you can find it in his original treatment protocol in this Health Rising article for example.

I guess at some point he must have realized promoting ivermectin will be a problem in the long run so he tried to distance himself from that group (?) but it looks like that task is actually not so easy.

 

Hi all, I'm new here so apologies if I'm not following any rules or guidelines with this post - I have read through but due to the reason I'm here sometimes I can't retain info!

I wanted to ask specifically about the blood test panel that the IncellDX company offer - I've read through the thread so far but couldn't find much discussion specifically about the blood tests - I think my question is to do with the evidence-base / validity of the various blood tests, as opposed to the various treatments / drugs etc that IncellDX and affilicated clinics prescribe as part of their protocol. Do let me know if I should re-post this question in a new thread or anything like that.

The panel that they're currently offering (in the UK where I'm based), through an affiliate company called longhaulers . world, is as follows:

" Complete Longhaulers Cytokine Panel a 14 point panel including

- IL-2 - GM-CSF - SCD40L - CCL5 (RANTE) - CCL3 (MIP-1 ALPHA)

- IL-6 - IL-10 - IFN-GAMMA - VEGF - IL-8 - CCL4 (MIP-1 BETA)

Price £467.00 inc. The Price includes: Phlebotomy, Credit Card Charges, Clinic Facilities, Dry Iced Shipping to Innovative Bioanalysis a CLIA-certified lab in the USA. Your results will be sent to you within 10 to 14 days



D-Dimer Rapid Test – There is a facility to book this test with the Cytokine Panel

-Provides simple positive or negative results for D-Dimer levels in blood.

-Results in 10 minutes

-Fully CE approved for professional use

Price £17 inc. Your nurse will perform your test and result will be given to you in clinic



Live Blood Analysis and Micro-Clot Testing

- Live Blood Microscopy or Live Blood Cell Analysis. A drop of fresh capillary blood is viewed in its live state under a microscope. It is magnified 1000x in order to view the condition of the blood cells and the plasma revealing any micro-clots. It assesses levels of inflammation, oxidation or toxicity. This service will run at the Clinic in parallel to the Cytokine panel and D-Dimer Testing. "Micro-clots, as discovered and written about by Dr Pretorius, if present in the blood can be viewed under any laboratory microscope. We will be using a darkfield microscope which is especially capable of illuminating the fine structures in the plasma, such as micro-clots."

Price £126 inc. The Price includes: Credit Card Charges, Clinic Facilities, Photographic Evidence and a Full Clinical Report of the findings. These results will be sent to you within 7-10 days "

I suppose my question would if anyone knows how to get an idea of how valid/reliable those blood tests are in theory, and how valid the science they're based on is?
The micro-clot testing one also seems interesting because of the potential implications with regards to apheresis treatment.
Apologies if my question doesn't really make sense - I had an experience in the past where a nutritional clinic I was working with was about to send me for some mitochondrial function blood tests, but then they got in touch and said they didn't want to send me for the blood tests and they had decided the tests were basically meaningless. It left me scratching my head a little!


Any thoughts / advice about where I should post this if not here etc welcome.

Thanks!

 

https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2...onundrum-long-covid-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/

 

“Patterson has a good pedigree, is confident and convincing,”

Clearing my throat…the confidence is the give away

https://www.deseret.com/1996/10/20/...short-form-of-1849-s-confidence-man?_amp=true

 

Seems like it's gathering steam... I don't have the expertise to really have an opinion about this -

https://www.meresearch.org.uk/new-blood-test-for-long-covid/

 

D-dimer was a standard test my local hospital ran when I visited A&E after a bad reaction to the AZ vaccine.

It was part of their standard blood test panel so guessing it is a common one at my NHS hospital. It's looking for evidence of blood clots.

Not sure how good their test is compared to the standard NHS one.

The others are experimental. There is another thread on Dr Pretoruis on this forum which may help.

 

It is pseudo medicine. It is a pity that MERUK are treating it as plausible.
You don't develop tests in this way. Long Covid is a clinical diagnosis. No test can be that.
The test might separate some people with Long Covid A from some with Long Covid B but no way will it be able to say that someone does not have Long Covid, or indeed that they do.
It is simply nonsense.

 

Thanks @Jonathan Edwards

 

Back in 2001 I sent my frozen blood to Arizona and paid $700(CDN) for the ISAC (Immune System Activation of Coagulation) panel, the hematologist and neurologist informed me that they could have ran the same tests here for free.

There wasn't anything 'special' about these panel markers, but David Berg (lab owner) made it out to be for CFS.