Are My Blood Vessels Aging Too? Miraculous Lifestyle Habits to Reverse Vascular Age

The aging of our blood vessels means much more than simply a decrease in elasticity. Modern medicine calls this 'atherosclerosis' and warns of it as a silent killer. Atherosclerosis is a condition where fatty substances such as cholesterol and inflammatory cells accumulate on the vascular wall to form 'atherosclerotic plaque', causing the vessels to narrow and harden. As the vascular wall undergoes sclerosis, the space through which blood flows decreases, and the loss of vascular elasticity impairs the body's ability to regulate blood pressure. The most important player in this process is 'cholesterol'. In particular, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) penetrates inside the vascular wall to trigger an inflammatory reaction, and as it undergoes oxidation, it is identified as the main culprit promoting the formation of atherosclerotic plaque. On the other hand, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) acts as a 'scavenger' that transports cholesterol accumulated on the vascular wall to the liver for removal. When the balance between the two is broken, a red warning light turns on for vascular health. Vascular aging is not solely a matter of cholesterol. Various factors such as chronic inflammation, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and stress interact in complex ways to damage vascular endothelial cells and impair the normal function of blood vessels. Vascular endothelial cells constitute the innermost layer of blood vessels and perform essential functions such as regulating blood coagulation, vasodilation, and vasoconstriction; when these cells are damaged, blood vessels narrow more easily and the risk of forming a thrombus increases. Blood vessels damaged in this way impede the smooth flow of blood, similar to the state described as a 'knotted pulse' in Donguibogam. Ultimately, vascular aging can lead to fatal cardiovascular disease such as myocardial infarction and stroke. It is even more dangerous because there are no symptoms initially, and severe symptoms only appear when blood vessels become more than 70% blocked or a thrombus ruptures, completely blocking blood circulation. You might think, 'I am still young, so I am fine,' but vascular aging can begin in your 20s, and the dietary and lifestyle habits of modern people tend to accelerate this aging even further. Therefore, vascular health is not something to manage only after growing old, but a lifelong task that must be maintained consistently starting from youth.