Capillary Dysfunction and COVID-19 Survival |

Mexican doctors and health researchers Jaime Igartúa Araiza and Alejandro Franco Díaz de León, who coined the concept of “global capillary” in their recently published text on “Elastosis: Global Capillary”, highlight the impact our capillary blood vessel system has on our chances of survival in the case of a COVID-19 infection. Their research shows that nutrition is a key factor when dealing with a damaged capillary system. We will thus take a closer look at the vital functions of our capillary blood vessel system, which is specific to organs and tissues, and sustains the organic function of life. The present text briefly explains what the capillary blood vessel system is, what its vital functions are, and what it is vulnerable to. It also describes how severe damage to this vital system – capillary dysfunction – can be countered and reversed by applying a natural therapeutic treatment with specific plant molecules called flavonoids.

Let us start by simplifying some concepts:

CAPILLARIES are tiny tubes, the size of red blood cells, which transport liquids. In the human body, blood is transported away from the heart via blood vessels (arteries), only to be transported back to the heart via other blood vessels (veins). Around our vital organs, arteries and veins branch out into smaller vessels (arterioles and venules). Capillaries, smaller still, are what connect the arterioles and venules. Their function is to filter out fluids, organic substances, and gases from our blood. The capillary system of our blood circulation constitutes an enormous organ, which can reach a weight of up to 15 pounds. Capillaries are found in all organs of the human body:

In the lungs, pulmonary alveoli exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide.
In the kidney, nephrons filter our blood and produce urine.
In the liver, hepatic lobules filter our blood and produce bile.
In the spleen, capillaries remove old red blood cells, which is why the spleen is known as the graveyard of red blood cells.
In the eyes, capillaries supply the retina with oxygen and nutrients enabling our vision. In addition, the cornea and crystalline lens are a filtration system for eye fluids.
The skin in its entirety is an enormous multi-functional capillary system.
In our lymph nodes, lymphatic capillaries drain and process fluids that are not contained within cells.

“GLOBAL CAPILLARY,” the term coined by doctors Igartúa y Franco in “Elastosis: Global Capillary,” refers to the entire human capillary system, spanning 60,000 miles. A fitting term, given that the system arises from its smallest units, the capillaries, and thus suffers the same diseases on a higher level, in the arteries, veins and circulatory system.

The structure of capillary blood vessels consists of three layers:

The interior wall of a capillary tube is made up of a multi-functional endothelial cell layer.
The outer surface of a capillary tube constitutes a basement membrane.
In between the inner and the outer layer, there exists an elastic fiber layer.

The inner endothelial cell layer provides a dynamic but stable environment (homeostasis) within the capillary tube by regulating the process of blood clotting.

ENDOTHELIAL CAPILLARY DYSFUNCTION is an imbalance in our capillary system that causes our smaller blood vessels to be blocked by an excessive amount of smaller blood clots and leads to bleedings (hemorrhage) in places, where blood clotting should occur, e.g., in damaged blood vessels (hemostasis). During a disease of the lungs (pneumopathy), for instance, blood clots formed in the capillary blood vessels around the many tiny air sacs in our lungs (alveoli) – a network that extends to an area of over 12 square miles – can prevent gas exchange (pulmonary embolism) and cause respiratory failure.

What does this have to do with our ability to survive COVID-19 infection? The thickening and degeneration of the elastic fibers of the capillaries (elastosis),most critically in the lungs, are the main cause of blot clotting (thrombosis) in blood vessels and intravascular disseminated coagulation that causes the death of patients infected with COVID-19.

The capillary system has various enemies that cause a so-called endothelial capillary dysfunction, greatly inhibiting one’s ability to recover from a virus that attacks our circulatory system.

Age, which causes the capillary system to deteriorate in a natural way.
Temperature increases the pressure of liquids against the capillary walls.
Toxins, primarily nicotine.
Diabetes (diabetes mellitus), an immuno-metabolic factor, which is genetic and developed during pregnancy, manifests later in the course of life, causing lesions in the lymphatic system, and the capillary walls. Diabetes is also a determining factor of lesions in the eyes, the kidney, and all tissues of the capillary structure, causing blindness, kidney failure, gangrene in the lower limbs as well as blood clotting (thrombosis), which is frequent in cases of diabetes.

However, the capillary system has also various protectors at its disposal: FLAVONOIDS are a diverse group of plant molecules found in many fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Up to 6,000 types of such flavonoids exist, and they are partially responsible for the intense colors in fruits and vegetables.

The capillary system preserves its integrity and function by interacting with plant food and healthy oxygen dynamics. The effect of the flavonoids confers a vital benefit thanks to their regenerative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer function.

Dr. Igartúa Araiza and Dr. Franco Díaz studied and demonstrated these effects in the eyes, specifically in cases of blot clotting (thrombosis) in the retina’s central vein. Through the study of cellular physiology, they understood the dysfunction of the inner endothelial cell layer in capillary vessels as well as the thickening and degeneration of their elastic fibers (elastosis) as the main cause of blot clotting (thrombosis) in blood vessels, a dysfunction specific to organs and capillary tissue. Further, they also supported the research of flavonoid treatment in therapeutic doses (not being sufficiently provided by food) for its anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, and nutritional effects, restoring organs and tissues injured by elastosis and capillary dysfunction.

They found the physio-pathological similarity with the COVID-19 infection as COVID-19 also causes endothelial capillary dysfunction. When observing its behavior they noticed the following:

Covid-19 suddenly affects seriously the elderly, diabetics, and nicotine addicts. Their circulatory system suffers from three causes of capillary damage. Furthermore, the respiratory membrane of their lungs is worn by age, nicotine, and capillary injuries caused by diabetes.

In the severe cases of young adults, there exist the urgent need for ruling out high insulin, and medicating with therapeutic doses of flavonoids in order to prevent and regulate blood clotting in the previously injured capillary system.

They regard the severe evolution of COVID-19 to be related to the state of capillary, circulatory, and pulmonary damage, which is caused by the relationship between elastosis, age, toxicity and inherited immuno-metabolic factors such as diabetes. Added to this are factors such as high average life span and smoking, which explain the cause of the intense virulence seen in COVID-19 in countries such as Italy and France.

This pattern contrasts with the lower frequency of intensity and severity of infection seen in the viral inflammatory response in Asian countries, where food sources are rich in flavonoids and omega-3 radicals. It explains the low aggression in infants and lesser viral aggression in young, active, sporting adults without a background of toxic or hereditary diseases affecting the blood vessels (vasculopathy).

Dr. Igartúa Araiza and Dr. Franco Díaz propose preventive and curative therapy through the anti-inflammatory and nutritional effects of flavonoids that can restore the immune system, the function of the global capillary, and diminish the time of life of as well as contagion time of the virus. The study of COVID-19 underlines the seriousness of injuries caused by lung diseases, even when the lung tissue is not affected by viral inflammation. Furthermore, their research also shows that it is possible to prevent unregulated blood clotting in a previously injured capillary system with the help of natural flavonoids. The therapeutic results obtained in cases of COVID-19 infections where unregulated blood clotting and damages to the capillary system had been treated with flavonoids were generally satisfactory. The precedence of the COVID-19 pandemic could advance research into flavonoids and their therapeutic effects on the capillary blood vessel system even further. If that happens, elderly people, diabetics, and former nicotine addicts would be the first among the future beneficiaries.