Ghost Blood Vessels

My brother-in-law watches a lot of television from Japan, and he just sent me a link to this very interesting video.   I’m not sure how well founded all of their claims are, but I think the video provides some insights.

The video is about “ghost blood vessels,” which are capillaries that atrophy with old age.  They’re referred to as “ghosts” when they no longer can carry blood.   They say that capillaries in the skin atrophy, so that the skin wrinkles and sags.  Capillaries supplying blood to bone tissue atrophy, and there is osteoporosis.  Capillaries in the brain atrophy, and this can cause dementia.  They link this to Alzheimer’s disease, but in a way that I’ve never seen described before.  So I’m not confident in the factuality of some points, but there is logic.

The question is, how do you stop or reverse the formation of ghost capillaries?  The video explains that “pericytes” are cells that wrap around capillaries, and give the capillaries their shape.  They expand and contract to regulate blood flow, notably in the brain.   In aging blood vessels, they may be lost from the capillary, and the capillary loses both its shape and the ability to conduct blood flow.  This is how ghost blood capillaries are formed.

The video claims that carbohydrates in the blood stream damage the pericytes and cause them to be lost.   So they recommend restricting or eliminating carbohydrates from your diet.  The video also claims that vigorous aerobic exercise stops the formation of ghost capillaries, and the recommend daily exercise.  As we discuss in Beating the Dementia Monster, removing carbohydrate from your diet and getting vigorous aerobic exercise both combat AD, so there is a connection here. It also suggests how physical exercise fights osteoporosis, something I’ve always wondered about. 

As far as exercise goes, they recommend skipping.  The idea is that the calf muscle is the biggest muscle in the body, and exercising it promotes blood flow.  Skipping will promote blood flow more than any other activity.  Or so they say.