Around the so-called "Cleansing of blood vessels"
A whole industry and many myths have developed.
However, our blood vessels are not pipes; even theoretically, cleaning them to get rid of cholesterol plaques or calcium deposits is not at all so simple. Does “vascular cleaning” even exist, or is it a misconception and a marketing ploy? We talked with our expert - cardiologist, functional diagnostics doctor, candidate of medical sciences Anna Nikolaevna Kotelnikova
, to learn more about the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.
On the eve of the New Year and the festive feast, be attentive to your diet and take care of yourself!
Vessel cleaning - what is it?
In official medical terminology, there is no such thing as “cleaning blood vessels” - this is everyday slang that is misleading and creates confusion. Unfortunately, it is impossible to remove cholesterol plaques that have already formed and clean a clogged vessel like a water pipe using a magic cleaning agent or “nanothreads”. An entire industry has already formed around the cleaning of blood vessels, however, the drugs and procedures that are offered to solve the problem do not have proven clinical effectiveness, the same applies to traditional methods. Restoring the functional state of the vascular endothelium is much more serious than detox, which is only appropriate for the primary prevention of vascular blockage. With atherosclerosis, when the vessels are narrowed by less than 50%, there is a risk of blood clots, heart attack or stroke
, the doctor prescribes drug therapy (
statins
,
calcium antagonists
and other drugs). However, they do not remove plaques, but compact them, thus increasing the lumen of the vessel. Therefore, it is extremely important to adhere to simple recommendations for the prevention of atherosclerosis.
In colloquial language, “cleaning” is also called cardiac surgery to expand a dangerously narrowed vessel - angioplasty, bypass surgery, stenting
. Their methods differ, but the essence is approximately the same: a catheter is inserted into the vessel, and the damaged, pathologically narrowed area is straightened and strengthened from the inside using implants - special rings, springs or tubes. The need for such operations arises if an atherosclerotic plaque closes the lumen of the vessel (artery) by more than 50%. When the blood supply is so disrupted, cells and organs are not supplied with oxygen and nutrients, and a person’s life can hang by a thread. It happens that a vessel or artery is blocked by a blood clot - a person suddenly feels very tired to the point of loss of consciousness, rapid heartbeat, suspicious pain (headaches, in the area of the heart), suffocates, and the skin turns pale. Such conditions are considered acute, and as a “cleansing” procedure, thrombolysis with special drugs is used on an outpatient basis. After stenting, bypass surgery or angioplasty, blood supply is restored, but it is necessary to take special medications and be observed by a cardiologist.
Why do blood vessels become clogged?
Vessels become blocked for various reasons, but most often this occurs due to cholesterol plaques and the deposition of calcium salts (calcinosis). The mechanism for the formation of such blockages is more complex than it seems, and it lies behind our everyday habits - even the most harmless at first glance. For example, when we eat highly salty foods
, blood thickening and fluid retention occur - blood pressure increases.
When we experience stress
, the hormones adrenaline and norepinephrine are produced - key vessels narrow, and pressure increases because the amount of blood that the heart needs to push remains unchanged. In a normal healthy state, the vessels cope with such loads, but over time, serious problems can begin, and this is not only hypertension.
Symptoms of fragility of blood vessels and capillaries
The fragility of blood vessels and capillaries manifests itself in different ways, depending on the severity of the disease. Symptoms can be: pronounced capillary networks, the appearance of bruises at the slightest blow and even for no reason, nosebleeds, dizziness, causeless pressure surges, cold hands and feet syndrome.
Increased fragility of blood vessels is diagnosed using the following methods.
Causes of atherosclerosis
The fact is that due to systematic additional loads, microdamages can form on the walls of the arteries. Damaged tissues swell. Cells that respond to inflammation (for example, white blood cells) accumulate around the damage, and fat and cholesterol that float in the blood also cling to them - a cholesterol plaque is formed. It is no longer possible to get rid of it using completely non-invasive methods. At the same time, the walls of the vessels become coarser and thinner - this pathological condition is called atherosclerosis, which in turn can lead to coronary artery disease and causes the need for “cleansing of blood vessels”.
Thus, it is important not only to eat right, but also to maintain the functional state of the cardiovascular system.
Drugs that strengthen the walls of blood vessels
When a person has ignored the recommendations for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including exercise and contrast showers, along with a nutritious and varied diet, medications come to the aid of blood vessels:
- Troxerutin is based on plant components that relieve inflammatory processes in areas of damage to capillaries and veins, while simultaneously restoring their elasticity.
- Diosmin is a drug that increases blood circulation. It is designed to combat the loss of tone in the circulatory system, carries building material for the walls of blood vessels, increasing their ability to expand and contract.
- Pentoxifylline helps deliver oxygen to the most remote areas. It improves blood supply to the whole body and increases the flexibility of the venous system.
- Mexidol helps not only to increase the elasticity of blood vessels, but also to restore them after damage. Mexidol does not allow blood vessels to collapse, which is why it is prescribed to patients who have suffered strokes. The drug reduces the risk of a second and third stroke on the critical day.
- Actovegin is prescribed to those who note the onset of pathological processes in the vascular system. It is used as a complement to complex therapy. The drug helps deliver oxygen through the bloodstream to organs and tissues.
- Ginko Biloba helps blood vessels respond correctly to changes in temperature, narrowing and expanding in time.
You can take the medications listed above only after consulting a specialist. Self-administration is not allowed.
Good and bad cholesterol
There are several types of lipoproteins (cholesterols). Low-density lipoproteins
(LDL)
are considered bad , but there is also a good one -
high-density lipoproteins (HDL)
. The latter works almost as an antagonist of bad cholesterol, allows you to control lipid metabolism - helps in transporting substances and detoxifying the body from bad cholesterol. Below we will tell you how to maintain the correct LDL-HDL balance and what else you need to pay attention to.
Ways to strengthen blood vessels
First of all, you need to pay attention to your diet and lifestyle. The elasticity and strength of blood vessels is established in childhood. If the body has not trained to form a healthy immune system, a person will be susceptible to frequent colds all his life, his blood circulation will not be stable, and some tissues will be forced to suffer from a lack of nutrients and hypoxia.
First of all, you need to remember that you don’t need to hide your child’s feet in socks from contact with the cool floor. Be sure to take walks in the fresh air and not wrap your head in hats and scarves if the ambient temperature is not lower than +17˚C.
Pouring cold water is called a hardening procedure only because it allows you to train the blood vessels. When exposed to cold, they should contract, and subsequent warming should stimulate their expansion. This is the most effective way to train blood vessels, which ensures that the walls remain elastic.
Prevention of vascular atherosclerosis
Avoid foods with high cholesterol levels
Limit animal products with high cholesterol content in your diet: lard, fatty meat, offal, fatty dairy products and whole milk, egg yolk. This does not mean that you need to completely abandon animal proteins and fats. The menu should be dominated by vegetables and fruits, complex carbohydrates and cereal fibers, especially fiber. It is important to control sugar levels and not overindulge in sweets and starchy foods - it is better to replace chocolate bars and snacks with dried fruit sweets and nuts, and your body will thank you.
The method of preparing dishes also plays an important role
- before you put meat or scrambled eggs in oil on a hot sizzling frying pan, think about whether it might be better to steam it? It is forbidden? Okay, but for frying it is better to use vegetable oils, such as olive oil.
Citrus fruits also fight fat and cholesterol
, in particular the substance pectin, isolated from
grapefruit
.
Pectin
is a soluble fiber that is found only in citrus fruits themselves, but not in juice.
We get cholesterol from 2 main sources. Most of the cholesterol (about 1 g per day) is produced by our liver - and this is enough.
We get the other part directly from food.
There is another life hack: pay attention to labels in the store, try to avoid products labeled “partially hydrogenated fats”
.
Play sports - train your heart and blood vessels
WHO recommends at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week.
During training, the body is detoxified, and the blood vessels are strengthened - this is also a kind of “cleansing of blood vessels.”
Even after undergoing stenting/bypass surgery, you can play sports and even run a marathon. However, such patients first need to take medications for quite a long time and be observed by a doctor. Patients with cardiovascular diseases need to calculate the permissible level of physical activity and select its optimal option. bicycle ergometry is for.
, which allows you to take stress tests on a device similar to a bicycle with special sensors.
Check your cholesterol levels
Once a year, it is recommended to take a special blood test - a lipid profile - to see if there is an increase in the level of total cholesterol or its fractions. In this way, it is possible to understand in a timely manner whether everything is fine with lipid metabolism or whether drug correction is necessary.
Primary prevention of atherosclerosis and blockage of blood vessels also involves visiting a therapist or cardiologist once a year, even if there are no complaints.
Treat periodontal disease, control sugar levels and body weight
Everything in our body is interconnected. It has been proven that patients with periodontal disease, like patients with diabetes and overweight, are more predisposed to atherosclerosis.
In 2021, the study “Metabolic syndrome and periodontal disease: An overview for physicians”
(Srivastava MC, Verma PK) with important and very interesting conclusions. In patients with poor teeth and a predisposition to atherosclerosis, intensive periodontal therapy after 2 months showed a significant reduction in the levels of c-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Measure your blood pressure
The absolute norm for blood pressure in an adult is considered to be 120/80 mmHg, but depending on the individual characteristics of the body, deviations are possible.
Monitor calcium levels and nutrient balance in the body
It is recommended to take additional Omega-3
- the body does not synthesize these beneficial fatty acids on its own - and you need to eat a lot of seafood and season salads only with flaxseed oil to make up for this deficiency. Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are the basis not only for strong and clean blood vessels, but even a building material for the brain. The average adult is recommended to consume 250 mg of Omega 3 per day throughout his life.
Vitamin K3
prevents calcium from being washed out of the bones and deposited on the walls of blood vessels. Most K₂ is found in fermentation products: cheese and fermented milk products.
Vitamin D and C, coenzyme Q10 are also extremely important for blood vessels
Stay hydrated, give up bad habits and get enough sleep
Drink clean filtered water throughout the day - about 1.5 liters.
The permissible amount of alcohol per day, which does not harm your heart and blood vessels, is 1 glass of good quality red wine; it is better to completely give up smoking.
You can get the maximum benefit from sleep if you sleep for 7-8 hours in a comfortable environment, without light or gadgets, and wake up only with or without an alarm clock.
Women and men over 40 years old
Patients in the older age group should be especially attentive to the state of the cardiovascular system and the primary prevention of atherosclerosis. Statistically, men are more susceptible to this disease, and hormones play an important role in this.
During the reproductive period, a woman’s ovaries produce sexual estrogens, which regulate the content of fats in the blood and prevent the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels, that is, they protect the woman’s body from atherosclerosis.
During menopause, ovarian function declines, they stop producing estrogen, and its content in the blood drops sharply. This leads to the fact that cardiovascular diseases in women after menopause appear 5 times more often than before it.
Therefore, at this age it is recommended to consult a gynecologist-endocrinologist.
, who may prescribe menopausal hormone therapy if necessary. MHT can not only improve the quality of life and prolong it, but also preserve beauty from the inside.
Doctors at the Cardiology Center of the Pirogov Clinic provide qualified assistance to patients in the treatment of atherosclerosis, preventive diagnostics, as well as recovery after stenting, bypass surgery, and a heart attack.
You can make an appointment with a cardiologist or directly with Dr. Anna Nikolaevna Kotelnikova through our website.
Habits that damage blood vessels in your legs every day
Some habits have a detrimental effect on health and, first of all, this concerns blood vessels. The structure of blood vessels can be disrupted by:
- Insufficient physical activity. As you know, life is movement. A person needs to constantly move to keep the blood vessels in good shape. You should not stay in one position for a long time; change the position of your legs every 20 minutes. And don’t forget to do simple exercises in the morning and evening; it won’t take much time, but it will be a good prevention of varicose veins on the legs.
- Excessive loads. A person needs to move, but you shouldn’t overexert your body. Due to intense training and exercise in the gym, work in the country, heavy lifting and other loads, pressure in the vessels of the lower extremities increases significantly, which leads to stretching of the muscle fiber and the development of valvular insufficiency.
- Smoking has a negative effect not only on the respiratory system, but also on the blood vessels of the entire body. Toxic tobacco tars, entering the blood, destroy the walls of blood vessels and reduce their elasticity.
- Wrong wardrobe. Fashionable jeans that are tight around the legs and pelvis, socks with a tight elastic band, and tight, tight shoes disrupt the normal blood flow in the lower extremities, thereby causing swelling and blood stagnation.
- Overheating of the body. High temperatures cause the vessels to expand to their limits. Frequent and/or long periods of time in a bathhouse, under the scorching sun or on the beach also contribute to the dilation of blood vessels, which reduces their elasticity. And these are the first prerequisites for the development of varicose veins on the legs.
- Abuse of massage and anti-cellulite procedures. Too frequent active, lymphatic drainage and anti-cellulite massages and wraps also affect the condition of the walls of blood vessels. Before carrying out even health-improving cosmetic procedures, it is necessary to consult with a therapist or specialist at a treatment center.
The first signs of varicose veins on the legs are abundant purple or deep red bruises, large bruises. If you notice bruising for no apparent reason, consult a doctor immediately.
