What are varicose veins?
Veins are blood vessels that carry deoxygenated blood to the heart, where the blood is reoxygenated and pumped back to your cells by arteries. Veins have one-valves so that blood is only pumped in one direction. Varicose veins are veins where the valves are weakened or damaged, allowing blood to flow back toward the heart which results in the pooling of blood at the site of the valve. This causes the veins to swell or twist under the surface of the skin, and can have minor to serious health effects.
Oxidative stress and how varicose veins form:
A multitude of factors can cause varicose veins to form, including age, pregnancy, standing for long periods of time, obesity and more. Though these factors vary, studies have shown an increased amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a commonality among varicose vein patients. Particularly in the most distal portions of veins (i.e lower legs and feet) superoxide production is heightened at varicose vein locations.
Because the varicose sites have dysfunctioning blood circulation and are swollen, enzymes and substrates found in the cells of venous walls are overworked, leading to the increase in ROS. The body’s natural antioxidant supply is not enough to overcome the increase in ROS, and so the damage done by ROS is propagated.
An antioxidant supplement, like OptiHealth Products’ OPCXtra can help to balance out the oxidative species in the venous cells in order to prevent further damage to veins by ROS. Follow this link to learn more about OPCXtra.