The endothelium is an inner lining of blood vessels that separates blood flow from the deeper layers of the vascular wall. This is a continuous single layer of epithelial cells that forms tissue weighing around 1.5-2.0 kg in a person. The endothelium continuously produces an enormous amount of the vital biologically active substances thus being a giant paracrine organ distributed throughout the human body.

Endothelium functions

Vascular endothelium exercises many different functions, including the crucial barrier function. It is the first and the last frontier where the fate of our vessels is decided. It is what kicks out everything that doesn't belong there, in the vascular wall. And if it breaks, unwanted guests intrude the wall—triggering some mess that eventually turns into a heart attack.

Vascular stenosis

The word "stenosis" is a Greek word that means narrowing. In terms of the cardiovascular system, stenosis is a process where blood vessels narrow due to deposits on the vascular walls. Most often, these substances have a lipid code; the most known representative of such lipids is cholesterol. In fact, arterial stenosis is a particular manifestation of atherosclerosis. But unlike the latter, stenosis is local in its nature.

Stenosis can exert a highly negative effect: vessel constriction inhibits the blood flow and thus some parts of the body lack oxygen and nutrients.

Blood clots

What are blood clots? They are masses of blood, called plaques, which appear in the heart or—more significantly in terms of Angiocode tests—in blood vessels.

Platelets

Clots usually consist of platelets, parts of bone marrow cells also called thrombocytes, white blood cells, and red blood cells. The main function of thrombocytes is preventing blood loss in case of mechanical artery damage. Besides, platelets transfer nutrients to the endothelium. Blood clots differ in composition and place of formation. In the core of a blood clot lies a lipid base—most often, cholesterol.

Thrombosis

Thrombosis occurs when blood clots form inside blood vessels and break off. After such a rupture, the plaque content is expeditiously released into the arterial lumen, after which it blocks the vessel. Depending on the location, the process may spiral into a heart attack or stroke.

Vascular atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a disease of the blood vessels, which, despite common misconceptions, affects the entire vascular system, not just a certain part of it. Surely, atherosclerosis of cerebral or limb vessels has its own characteristic symptoms and consequences, but the disease is always the same in its nature. It is caused by a disturbance in the lipid exchange and depositing of cholesterol and other lipoproteins on the walls of the arteries. Depositing of such plaques entails stenosis (local manifestation) and may clog the arteries—after which blood won't be able to deliver oxygen and nutrients to some areas of the body. Unlike stenosis, atherosclerosis is a more global process and affects the most part of the vascular system; it is often congenital.

The principle leans on the method for assessing the arterial function (endothelium state and arterial stiffness) developed by Doctor of Medicine, Professor Parfenov Alexander Sergeevich, based on photoplethysmographic principle of volume pulse wave registration both at rest and during functional tests (reactive hyperemia test, breathing test, pharmacological tests). This approach provides critical clinical data on the arterial bed status and requires no special training of the test operator. Angioscanning with the help of the company's devices designed in collaboration with A.S. Parfenov allows to estimate the following parameters:

What is the stiffness index and what to do with it?

Imagine throwing yourself on an air mattress, or better yet, a water bed. Boom!

You're swinging on it, and it sways beneath you. Why does it happen?

You have created a wave that reflected from the bed walls multiple times and now travels under you, wiggling sensibly. You have created a wave in a closed space—and received part of it back after the wave bounced off the walls.

© 2019-2024 AlmaCode
The program is available on Play Market.