Ischemia (cellular suffering): How to treat and prevent it
Ischemia occurs when there is cellular suffering because the blood flow is either slow, poor or there is either permanently or transiently low blood pressure. When blood cells decrease, not only does it diminish the contribution of nutrients to the bloodstream, but also the amount of oxygen (hypoxia). In addition, removing waste products from the cell cannot be achieved, making them stagnate and accumulate.
Cellular suffering due to low blood pressure can be either permanent or temporary, though it is sometimes intense and causes what is called "cell death", which causes death of the tissue that belongs to the cell (necrosis).
There are several types of ischemia: cerebral ischemia, chronic ischemia, acute ischemia, renal ischemia, cardiac ischemia, etc.
Healthy cells
The cells need to be healthy and vibrant with lots of energy. There are two ways to obtain energy: Via fermentation or from oxygen. For this, it is essential to have a good or "healthy" blood pressure. If the cell lacks energy, it will deteriorate until it dies. Each of the tissues in your body have a tolerance to withstand upto a certain lack of energy, so ischemia may affect you either quite fast or relatively slowly if you have it.
Causes of Ischemia:
- Smoking
- Drugs or overmedicating coupled with a poor diet
- Some types of paralysis
- Hypertension
- Lacunar heart attacks or defects
- Strokes of cardiac origin
In the case of chronic ischemia, it occurs progressively and gradually, mainly affecting the upper and lower extremities of the body. In this case, the decrease in the blood pressure causes a lack of oxygen in the limbs and can cause them pain and lack of feeling and/or movement, as well as aching muscles and joints, particularly in the shoulders.
In acute ischemia, decreased blood flow occurs suddenly; it happens either by trauma or illness and primarily affects the extremities. It can happen in the kidneys (renal acute ischemia) and in the brain or an artery of the brain (paraplegia).
Treatment
In the case of acute ischemia, it should be treated quickly to prevent tissue death, repairing the cause that causes either the trauma or blockage that prevents blood flow. After then, to repair damages and prevent or repair chronic ischemia and the resulting damaged tissues in the body, it is recommended that you consider or take into account the following points:
- To treat this condition it is necessary to consider eating a basal diet where food is of high quality, such as fresh vegetables, almonds and walnuts, chia, citrus juice while fasting and drinking a lot of water. Fresh ginger, aloe, brewer's yeast and plant-based milks, as well as vitamin A, C and E can help repair tissue damaged or deteriorated due to lack of nutrients and/or oxygenation.
- You should consider practising a form of exercise that helps improve circulation: The exercise should be smooth and focused, depending on the affected areas. Yoga or tai chi are recommended, as well as swimming in some cases. You must pay special attention to the fact of whether you enjoy the exercise or movement of the area (see point 3).
- It is very important to consider the emotional aspect, as ischemia is influenced by a strong sense (or lack) of satisfaction or joy in any area of life. It is important to consider that the movement or circulation of the body is closely related to our desire or joy of circling around where we are. When it does not, we stop ourselves from feeling joy or happiness and this is reflected in our body, which reflects our lack of joy or disappointment depending on where we are. When we exercise, it is important to concentrate on cultivating a cheerful attitude in order to aid recovery: Do not move or exercise just because you have to. Try to enjoy what you can do, performing great miracles with damaged tissues.