Don’t get COVID

Virtually all cases result in 

tissue damage

When cells die, their contents are released into the surrounding tissue. Parts of the DNA of the cell are also released and can be detected in the bloodstream. That’s what is meant by cell-free DNA (cfDNA). Epigenetic liquid biopsies study the cfDNA and can determine the type of cells that it came from, based on characteristic molecular structures. The authors state “Patients with severe COVID-19 had a massive elevation of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) levels, which originated in lung epithelial cells, cardiomyocytes, vascular endothelial cells and erythroblasts, suggesting increased cell death or turnover in these tissues.”

Cardiomyocytes are the muscle cells of the heart that contract to provide the heartbeat. When a large area of these become damaged, it is called a myocardial infarction, or commonly called a heart attack. This is normally due to either fatty plaques forming in the blood vessels that feed the heart or a clot that enters one of them. Keep that in mind for the part on vascular endothelial cell damage.

Endothelial cells line the inside of tissue. Epithelial cells line the outer surface. Damaged lung epithelium means that the cells that take up oxygen in the air sacs of the lungs (alveoli) which gets diffused into the bloodstream and carbon dioxide to flow into the alveoli no longer function. Erythroblasts are the cells that become red blood cells when mature. The damage to these just these two cell types means that other tissues will be supplied less oxygen, but that is just part of the widespread damage.

The damage to the vascular endothelium is really one of the most critical things to understand about COVID.

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we will see massive amounts of chronic diseases among people who had COVID infections in the future.