Posted on 01/31/2022 1:45:38 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Heart attacks and strokes are the number one cause of death in the United States, and 70% of them are caused by plaques of cholesterol clogging blood vessels. Despite the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, our best attempts to predict who is at risk are not very good.
"We started looking at macrophages, cells that eat lipids stuck to the walls of blood vessels," says Beiyan Zhou, immunologist. Macrophages eat the fatty deposits on the walls of arteries. After eating the fat, they become foamy. "They look foamy because the fat droplets are contained in the cell and look like a clump of bubbles," Zhou says.
Foamy macrophages have a bad reputation among cardiologists. They are often found in plaques along inflamed sections of blood vessels. Foamy plaque is known to be the worst plaque, associated with advanced cardiovascular disease.
But foamy macrophages may be both more neutral, and more interesting, then they're currently given credit for being. Zhou took a closer look at the foamy cells to see how their lipid consumption related to heart attacks, arthritis, and even irritable bowel syndrome.
The group found that foamy macrophages are mostly a clean-up crew that eats fat smeared in the wrong places. If the macrophages are prevented from cleaning up, cardiovascular disease worsens. But in people with diabetes, autoimmune disease, or who take certain immunotherapies, the lipid eating macrophages behave differently. They still consume lipids, but they also get inflamed and can worsen plaques in the arteries, and even precipitate ruptures that lead to chunks of plaque flowing down the bloodstream until they catch somewhere else, potentially causing a clog.
"Foaming is not necessarily bad; this is the first time that we can distinguish good and bad foaming. It is the bad foaming that can cause heart attack," Zhou says.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
365 days a year to slow the spread and fight the virus....with beer.
Suspiciously like pre-messaging for vax complications they know are coming.
Interesting.
When does Rubio show?
Whew! I was worried that all those times the styrofoam plate melted onto my grilled cheese in the work cafeteria was bad for me.
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