After almost two years of dealing with the pandemic, all of us, including our brightest doctors and scientists are still in the dark about numerous issues around SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
One thing is for certain, though. We’re all ready for it to go away.
But despite declining infection numbers, it’s found a way to hang on…
One of the most confounding mysteries has been the virus’s ability to result in long-term symptoms.
Termed “Long Covid,” people suffering from the condition can experience a wide array of symptoms including:
- Extreme fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Brain fog or problems with memory
- Insomnia or difficulty sleeping
- Joint and muscle pain
- Depression and anxiety
- Tinnitus or ringing in the ears
- Heart palpitations
- Rashes
And weirdly (and a bit frighteningly) the list goes on.
Sadly, recent studies have shown that more people than you might believe end up with these long-term Covid symptoms, for which there’s currently no real treatment.
So what’s behind the unending issues?
Well, studies have linked Long Covid to everything from obesity to an old viral infection and, especially, to blood clots.
And now, it’s that last one making big news.
That’s because researchers from Stellenbosch University have discovered that it might actually be clots inside those clots that are the issue causing the lingering symptoms.
Microscopic clots packed with inflammatory molecules
This discovery was surprisingly just an act of chance.
Professor Resia Pretorius, a researcher in the Department of Physiological Science at the University was simply analyzing blood samples of patients with Long Covid when she realized that the sample was packed with micro clots — tiny clots within the clots.
So of course, as with any good researcher, she began to wonder why and set out to answer that question.
From there she realized that these weren’t your typical blood clot: they were packed with high levels of various inflammatory molecules that were trapped inside.
Two molecules in particular she noted were:
- Fibrinogen – a protein that promotes clotting
- Alpha(2)-antiplasmin – a molecule that prevents the breakdown of blood clots
The problem was in their balance.
You see, under normal conditions, your body maintains a fine balance between blood clotting and clot breakdown.
Yet, what the research team found in these micro clots was that in Long Covid, that balance is tipped way to the dark side, with high levels of inflammatory clotting agents, literally trapped inside — and low levels of molecules to control those clots.
In other words, for people suffering from Long COVID, their body’s ability to break down the clots the disease causes is significantly inhibited.
According to the researchers, these findings provide “further evidence that COVID-19, and now Long COVID, have significant cardiovascular and clotting pathologies.”
Put simply Covid and Long Covid are all about your heart and blood vessels and with them whether or not you have healthy blood flow.
Can you improve your circulation?
Since the beginning of the pandemic experts have recommended ways to avoid some of the worst of COVID-19. Even with the advent of vaccines, nutrition keeps coming up — not as a cure for the virus or even the effects of long COVID, but to help shore up the body in the face of potential threats.
So, if your blood flow is already questionable — your extremities go numb easily or are always cold, or maybe you have varicose veins — talk to your doctor.
If he doesn’t think you need medication to help those issues, there’s a natural way — again, using nutrition — that might help you feel better about the state of your blood flow.
It’s the Japanese secret known as natto.
Made from fermented soybeans, natto is a traditional Japanese food that has a consistency similar to soft cheese and a rather odd odor. But it’s been renowned as a health food for centuries.
Only in the last few decades has science pinned down the secret to its health-promoting properties — a naturally occurring enzyme known as nattokinase discovered more than 40 years ago by Dr. Hiroyuki Sumi.
Nattokinase is available in supplements, like Peak Blood FlowTM, if you don’t have access to natto or don’t find the taste appealing. And here’s why you should consider either…
While researching natural agents that could dissolve fibrin in a petri dish (a fibrous, non-globular protein involved in the clotting of blood) at the Chicago University Medical School, Dr. Sumi successfully tested natto. And it worked.
This discovery led to more scientific research that proved the fibrinolytic effect of nattokinase at promoting healthy blood flow.
Healthy blood flow is important whether COVID’s long haul symptoms are part of the picture or not. If anything, we’ve gotten a good lesson on that over the last two years.
Sources:
Inflammatory micro clots in blood of individuals suffering from Long COVID — ScienceDaily
Long-term effects of coronavirus (long COVID) — NHS
How to Keep Blood Healthy & Reduce Risk of Blood Clots — HeartMD Institute
How To Prevent Blood Clots Naturally — Center for Vein Restoration
Why COVID-19 could be causing blood clots—and what you can do to lower your risk — The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center