[conspire] (forw) [offlist] Pandemic stats (was: dvlug.org reboot)

[Deirdre Saoirse Moen]

On Mon, Nov 15, 2021, at 1:12 PM, Rick Moen wrote:
> Deirdre has made a _very_ interesting point that severe COVID-19 is
> actually not a disease of the respiratory system, but rather of the
> vascular endothelium, the crucial tissue layer lining the insides of
> arteries, veins, and microvessels.
> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7470753/ That is what makes
> the severe disease so horrifying in its effects, and unique in human
> history.  However, the pathogen in _other_ ways is subject to the same
> disease dynamics as other troublesome viruses.

On the bright side, we may actually get some significant research $$ into endothelial disease, and stop treating it as merely a moral problem of the overweight and smokers.

One of the charming factoids of the endothelium is that it has holes in it, which people thought for a long time weren't structural. (They are.) They are called fenestrations.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2681366/

The endothelium also is what creates the blood/brain barrier.

Also, when your GFR (glomerular filtration rate, a measure of kidney function) is checked, that's also the endothelium.

https://www.lecturio.com/magazine/fenestration-endothelial-transport/

Deirdre