This is one of a series of articles. The circulatory system is one of the most critical systems in the body for our overall health. It supplies all the organs and tissues with oxygen and nutrients and carries away the waste products of metabolism. The heart and brain need enormous amounts of oxygen to function properly.
Atherosclerosis is a condition of plaque build-up in the medium and larger sized arteries.
Because free radicals definitely cause irritation, inflammation and cellular destruction, it is believed that they can cause injury to the walls of the arteries allowing plaque to begin building up. Therefore, supplementing with substances that counteract free radicals only makes sense. The liver produces a protein called fibrinogen. It circulates in the blood and when it comes in contact with damaged or diseased tissue, it is changesd into fibrin protein and sticks to the damaged tissue to form a clot. When free radicals cause injury to the lining of arteries, the fibrin protein sticks to the injured wall and forms a sticky net which traps cholesterol type compounds, heavy metals and other substances.