Unflame

The library

Every explainer, by condition

Ten pattern stories so far. Each one starts from a question people actually ask, states what is known, what is extrapolated and what is unknown, and lists every source.

Eczema

Why eczema flares when it does: barrier, itch, sweat, air and water, from the human studies.

Eczema

Does bad air make eczema flare? What the AQI can and cannot tell you

On high-pollution days, eczema clinic visits rise slightly across millions of records.

Read the explainer Eczema · Psoriasis

The gut-skin axis is real. 'Your skin disease starts in your gut' is not what it shows.

Gut microbes, the intestinal barrier and circulating immune signals do communicate with the skin.

Read the explainer Eczema

Why a workout makes eczema itch, and why the sweat itself is not the villain

About 30% of adults with eczema name sweat as an itch trigger.

Read the explainer Eczema

Hard water and eczema: what happened when 336 families got water softeners

Hard water is modestly linked to childhood eczema and leaves nearly three times more detergent residue on skin in the lab.

Read the explainer

Psoriasis

Why plaques come back where they do: skin memory, injury and the gut-skin question.

Psoriasis

Why psoriasis comes back in the same spot

Cleared psoriasis plaques leave an invisible footprint of resident immune cells and altered genes.

Read the explainer Psoriasis

Why a scratch can turn into a psoriasis plaque, and why most scratches don't

Skin injury can trigger a new psoriasis plaque at the exact site 1 to 3 weeks later.

Read the explainer

IBS

Why gut symptoms follow meals, infections and days the way they do.

IBS

Why IBS hits minutes after a meal, when the food is still in your stomach

Solid food takes 2 to 5 hours to reach the colon, so cramps five minutes into a meal cannot be 'the food going straight through'.

Read the explainer IBS

Why a stomach bug can leave a years-long footprint in the gut

About 1 in 7 adults meet IBS criteria months after infectious gastroenteritis, with 4.3 times the odds of unexposed people.

Read the explainer IBS

Why the same food can hurt on Tuesday and not on Friday

84% of people with IBS report food triggers, yet 61% of their real-life meals cause no symptoms, and up to a third of people flare on blinded placebo.

Read the explainer

Tracking

What a symptom log can and cannot tell you.

Tracking

What a symptom log can tell you, and what it cannot

Memory inflates past symptoms, exposures happen together, and flares change your sleep and stress rather than the reverse.

Read the explainer