The Scream of Vessels Unable to Withstand Pressure
The aorta must endure high blood pressure and the impact of blood flow throughout a lifetime.
However, when elastic fibers (Elastin) and collagen in the vessel wall are destroyed due to aging, hypertension, atherosclerosis, or genetic factors (e.g., Marfan syndrome), the vessel becomes thin and weak.
If a weakened area cannot withstand the pressure and bulges out, it becomes an Aortic Aneurysm.
If the inner lining tears and blood forces its way between the layers of the wall, Aortic Dissection occurs.
Rupture of a thoracic or abdominal aneurysm leads to massive bleeding, resulting in a very high pre-hospital mortality rate.
Absence of symptoms does not mean safety.
BM's Perspective: Why Did the Vessel Wall Weaken?
BM Korean Internal Medicine Clinic asks, "Why couldn't the aorta withstand the pressure?"
It is not simply because blood pressure is high. It is because the substances constituting the vessel wall have been lost and inflammation has occurred.
From the perspective of Korean Medicine, aortic disease is a complex state of Blockage of Vessels by Stasis (Maengnak-eojo / 脈絡瘀阻) and Deficiency of Qi and Yin (Gieum-yangheo / 氣陰兩虛).
- Blockage by Stasis (Maengnak-eojo, 脈絡瘀阻): A state where blood stasis and phlegm-turbidity accumulate on the vessel wall, causing inflammation and eroding the tissue.
- Deficiency of Qi and Yin (Gieum-yangheo, 氣陰兩虛): A state where the fundamental energy (Qi) and fluids (Yin) supporting the vessels are depleted, leaving the walls brittle and inelastic.
We look beyond the enlarged vessel diameter seen in imaging to see the chronic inflammation and nutritional deficiency that sickened the vessel wall.
This is the essence of aortic disease as viewed by Internal Medicine by Korean Medicine Physicians.
