Preventive Medicine Chapter Two

What is vascular aging and poor blood circulation? This can be divided into two parts: (1) Aging of blood vessels: refers to the lumen of blood vessels becomes rough, the elasticity of blood vessels deteriorates, and even calcification and hardening occur. Thrombosis and blockage, resulting in severe hypoxia in the supply area, cell, tissue, organ failure and necrosis. (2) Poor blood circulation: Refers to the viscous and turbid blood, poor fluidity, reduced oxygen content, and slow blood flow in the lumen, resulting in hypoxic state in the supply area and removal of metabolites The ability of carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide is reduced, and the chance of thrombosis is also relatively increased.

 

Fig（ａ）Arterial aging process：

  1. Normal arterial vessels have a smooth lumen and smooth blood flow.
  2. Cholesterol deposits slowly appear in the lumen with age or diet patterns.
  3. The deposited part will gradually form atherosclerotic plaque, the lumen becomes not smooth, and the blood flow begins to be difficult.
  4. Atherosclerotic plaques grow larger over time, the lumen becomes narrower, and blood flow becomes more restricted.
  5. In some cases, atherosclerotic plaque ruptures suddenly, causing the blood to clot and block the vessel, interrupting blood flow.

 

FIG（ｂ）Cross ection of arterial aging：

  1. Healthy arterial blood vessels, the lumen is very smooth
  2. Cholesterol deposits in the lumen and atherosclerotic plaques begin to form.
  3. Atherosclerotic plaques grow larger over time.
  4. The inner cavity is getting smaller and smaller, which is easy to cause thrombus formation.

 

FIG（ｃ）Arterial aging and poor blood circulation occur in various organs and tissues of the body and their symptoms：

  • Brain Vascular Aging: Ischemic Stroke
  • Poor blood circulation in the brain: poor spirits, inability to concentrate, sleep disorders, atrophy of brain nerve cells, memory loss or loss, and even incoordination of peripheral neuromuscular movements.
  • Ocular vascular aging: eye stroke, vision loss.
  • Poor blood circulation in the eyes: degeneration of optic nerve cells, blurred vision, decreased night vision, cloudy crystals, dry and sore eyes, and photophobia.
  • Cardiovascular aging: angina pectoris, myocardial infarction.
  • Poor blood circulation in the heart: arrhythmia, heart palpitations, myocardial weakness, insufficient blood driving force, resulting in implicated peripheral circulation.
  • Renal vascular aging: chronic renal insufficiency, renal hypertension.
  • Poor renal blood circulation: decreased renal function, decreased blood clearance rate, and increased accumulation of toxic substances in the blood.
  • Intestinal vascular aging: ischemic enteropathy.
  • Poor intestinal blood circulation: poor intestinal peristalsis, absorption and digestion are affected, and even bowel movements are not smooth.
  • Articular vascular aging: ischemic bone lesions.
  • Poor blood circulation in joints: Joint pain, weakness and degeneration affect normal flexion and extension functions.
  • Acral vascular aging: ischemic gangrene.
  • Poor blood circulation in extremities: paresthesia or numbness, even intermittent claudication, especially in cold weather or at night. In addition, the skin will also appear dry and rough, cracked, desquamated, itchy, severe keratinization, and pigmentation.