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Blood vessels carry blood, supply oxygen and nutrients to all tissues and organs, and remove waste. Healthy blood vessels are a key element in maintaining the smooth functioning of the entire body and are critical to sustaining life. But when arteriosclerosis occurs, can our blood vessels recover? In the past, it was widely thought that it was impossible, but in recent years, a number of studies have been published that show that arteriosclerosis can be improved, and there is hope for vascular health.
Today, I would like to talk about endothelial cells, which are the key to recovering from arteriosclerosis.
So how can this arteriosclerosis be reversed? The key to this answer is endothelial cells. Endothelial cells are a layer of thin cell membranes that cover the entire blood vessel. There are about 500~70 billion endothelial cells in a person's body, and the total area of them is equivalent to a football field.
Endothelial cells perform a number of key functions in our blood vessels. In addition to exchanging nutrients such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and wastes, it also prevents bacteria and viruses from penetrating the blood vessels and regulates and produces blood vessels so that blood flow can flow constantly. It is also involved in sugar metabolism and lipid metabolism. If there is a problem with endothelial cells, it can cause not only arteriosclerosis, but also blood pressure, diabetes, dementia, and chronic kidney disease.
The function of endothelial cells is based on their ability to produce nitric oxide. One of the important roles of endothelial cells is to dilate blood vessels through nitric oxide, lower blood pressure, and act as an anti-inflammatory. It can be assumed that a decrease in the ability to produce nitric oxide leads to a decrease in endothelial function.
Deterioration of endothelial cells is usually caused by known diseases or adverse lifestyle habits. Underlying diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, advanced age, tobacco, lack of exercise, poor diet, stress, pollution, inflammation, viruses, cytokines, impaired blood flow, oxidative stress, and anti-cancer drugs are some of the factors that reduce the function of endothelial cells.
In particular, it is said that in the 3-40s, the level of endothelial function decreases to about half of what it was in the past. Among them, men who smoke cigarettes have been reported to be more vulnerable.
One way to improve endothelial function is to increase constant blood flow.
Endothelial cells have sensors that can detect blood flow. When this sensor detects blood flow, the genetic factors in the nucleus make enzyme proteins. These substances can help maintain blood vessels by dilating them and inhibiting blood clots. After all, stimulation through the bloodstream plays a very important role in endothelial function.
The first way to create good blood flow is to exercise. It's also the easiest thing you can do on an individual level. For exercise, it is recommended to walk for 40 minutes ~ 1 hour 4 times a week. Instead of halving your workout time, you can speed up your workout as if you were jogging.
The second option is to seek medical help. Let me introduce you to the only FDA-approved non-surgical cardiovascular treatment device called EECP.
The EECP is a device that works by applying pressure when the heart contracts and releases pressure when it relaxes. Applying pressure to the calves, thighs, and buttocks in that order increases coronary blood flow, which can improve vascular endothelial function.
As vascular endothelial cells are involved in many bodily functions, the effects of EECP are vastly diverse and positive. First of all, it significantly increases cardiac output and blood flow, so it is used to treat heart diseases such as heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and angina. It improves peripheral vascular function, lowering blood pressure and promoting the production of anti-inflammatory, antioxidants. This activated blood flow supplies oxygen to cells throughout the body, which can have additional effects on skin, joints, hair, immunity, fatigue, cognition, renal function, erectile dysfunction, and athletic performance. People with medical conditions may experience this more significantly.
According to research, blood vessels improved by EECP remain nearly 75% effective even after 3~5 years of treatment. It is believed that this is due to the fact that it not only has a temporary function, but also promotes structural improvement of blood vessels such as the creation of new branch blood vessels through endothelial cells.
Lastly, it can be helpful to eat food as an additional dimension. Antioxidant foods such as omega-3, vitamin C, and co-cutane are helpful for blood vessels. If you have hyperlipidemia, you may want to be aggressively prescribed a lipid-boosting statin or ezetimibe to treat it.
Tobacco, along with sugars, lipids, and alcohol, is one of the most toxic toxins to our blood vessels. The effects of tobacco on blood vessels already exist in natural history and research. If an obese man smokes a pack of cigarettes a day from the age of 20, there is a very high probability that he will experience diseases such as myocardial infarction due to capillary damage in his late 30s~40s, numbness in his fingertips and toes due to peripheral blood vessels in his 50s, and myocardial infarction due to cardiovascular problems in his 60s.
Some people ask why they should use heated tobacco or liquid cigarettes instead of commonly sold cigarettes to reduce their smoking. First of all, in the case of e-cigarettes, they are actually used as a smoking cessation treatment in Europe. In the case of heated cigarettes, it has been reported that the problems caused by non-combustion of cigarettes are improved, reducing the harm caused by cigarettes by more than 70%.
However, there are a few things you should be aware of when smoking heated tobacco or liquid tobacco.
First, you should not arbitrarily mix other substances with e-liquids. In the United States, there have been a number of reported cases of liquid cigarettes mixed with other liquids, causing specific diseases in the lungs for a while. If possible, it is recommended to use the products that are available on the market.
Second, smoking multiple types of tobacco is actually worse for vascular health. If you smoke cigarettes, heated tobacco, and liquid cigarettes, you need to clean up with just one thing.
Third, smoking heated cigarettes or liquid cigarettes does not significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. According to the analogy of the actual workers, "It is the same as falling from the 10th floor or the 7th floor." For vascular health, it is best to quit smoking as much as possible.
Although the fundamental function of endothelial cells was already known, the importance of endothelial cells has come to the fore as research on cardiovascular diseases has been conducted. In particular, it is a relatively recent discovery that endothelial cells produce various substances through the bloodstream to maintain blood vessels.
However, I am sure that you have experienced the importance of endothelial cells through various indirect channels. For example, arginine is widely touted as good for men's health. After all, it was commercialized based on research that arginine affects the mechanism by which nitric oxide is produced.
Vitamin K2 supplementation may help manage atherosclerosis. In particular, many studies have been conducted in academia on the synergistic effect of vitamin K2 intake combined with exercise.
However, vitamin K2 does not eliminate atherosclerotic plaques and dramatically reduce calcium residues or LDL cholesterol that cause atherosclerosis. If you want to prevent atherosclerosis, you may want to seek help from prescription medications such as statins.
When blood sugar rises and falls rapidly, glycotoxicity triggers oxidative stress and inflammatory responses, leading to a decrease in vascular endothelial cell function. In order to prevent blood sugar from rising rapidly, eating protein or vegetables first, followed by noodle dishes or flour foods is a way to protect the endothelial cells of blood vessels.
Based on nitric oxide production capacity, the average endothelial function declines between the ages of 6 and 70. However, the vascular environment is unfavorable, and arteriosclerosis does not necessarily occur with age.
When arteriosclerosis occurs, blood vessels harden for two reasons.
The first is structural. The thickness of the inner membrane of a blood vessel is normally less than 0.8 mm, but when arteriosclerosis occurs, it exceeds 1.5 mm, which prevents it from stretching well structurally.
The second is a functional issue. If the endothelial function of the blood vessels decreases and they do not produce nitric oxide well, the blood vessels will not stretch well, regardless of the thickness of the inner membrane.
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