COVID-19 IS A VASCULAR DISEASE
This pandemic has upended our world.
COVID-19 is not just a respiratory disease that affects our lungs, it is a disease that damages our blood vessels.
The Angiogenesis Foundation is working to research, understand, and find ways to prevent, treat, and reverse the vascular damage caused by COVID-19 to help the tens of millions of people who have been infected by the novel coronavirus.
THE ANGIOGENESIS FOUNDATION WAS CALLED INTO ACTION…
OUR DISCOVERY
Soon after the World Health Organization declared the pandemic in March 2020, we saw an unusual pattern of disease. COVID-19 patients had problems in their nose, their brain, heart, liver, kidney, and even toes — and some had serious blood clots — all unusual for a respiratory virus.
We knew blood vessels link all these organs and are the common denominator in many diseases. So, we set out to discover what underlies this mystery. With colleagues in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and the U.S., we discovered that coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infects the endothelial cells lining our blood vessels.
Our research soon discovered this was the cause of blood clots and organ damage, and there was an unusual blood vessel behavior, called intussusceptive angiogenesis, that was taking place throughout the body. COVID-19 a vascular disease.
WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?
Our blood vessels are critical for feeding our cells and organs, and for protecting our health. When our vascular system is injured, our health is in danger. The vascular damage caused by the coronavirus is one reason for the severity of illness altering being infected, and also behind many of the long-term symptoms seen in people who have not truly recovered from COVID-19.
WE MUST PROTECT AND REPAIR THE VASCULAR SYSTEM.
It is critical that we find ways to protect our blood vessels and to prevent their damage in COVID-19. Even young people who have gotten COVID-19 but haven’t been seriously ill can suffer the terrible consequence of vascular damage. One study from Germany showed that up to 70% of people who have recovered from COVID-19 have evidence for long term heart damage. Injured blood vessels are also part of the brain and nerve injury seen in long-term COVID-19, as well as kidney damage.
WHAT WE ARE DOING
CONDUCTING RESEARCH
We are working with top medical researchers around the world to:
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Find ways to detect and diagnose blood vessel damage in people with COVID-19.
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Find ways to prevent the vascular damage from COVID-19.
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Find new treatments to help people who are suffering from vascular damage in Long-Term COVID-19, and ways to repair their damaged blood vessels to restore their health.
Please help SUPPORT our research.
HELPING PATIENTS
The Angiogenesis Foundation is working to help improve the lives of patients during the pandemic.
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Conducting patient advocacy about the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations, and to improve access to care and treatments.
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Promoting equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, including for the under-immunized and medically underserved populations.
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Educating doctors and other health professionals about the latest COVID-19 insights that can improve care.
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Bringing together innovative scientists, physicians, industry leaders, and policy leaders to pave the way to prevent, treat, and reverse the effects of COVID-19.
We need your SUPPORT.
INFORMING THE PUBLIC
We are communicating about COVID-19’s vascular effects to help protect people around the world. See, hear, and read about our work:
- NPR: Researchers Learning More About How The Coronavirus Sabotages Blood Vessels
- The Rachael Ray Show: Long-Hauler Syndrome: What We Know About Post-Covid Symptoms, Explained By a Top Disease Expert
- Dr. Mehmet Oz: How common are long-term effects in COVID-19 survivors?
- ABC News: The new normal: Immunity-boosting foods
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The Doctors TV: COVID-19 Symptoms Can Last for Months for ‘Long Haulers
- DLDSync: Transforming Food Culture in our New Future
- The Rachael Ray Show: Covid Face Masks | Best + Worst Face Masks For Covid-19 Prevention | Dr. William Li
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Fireside Chat with The Cura Foundation: The Long-Term Effects of COVID-19
- Cuomo Primetime with Chris Cuomo: A 9-year-old who’s been battling coronavirus for 6 months says the illness is a big deal
- The Washington Post: It’s time to focus on potential long-term organ damage from covid-19
- Cuomo Primetime with Chris Cuomo: Long-Haulers Coronavirus Symptoms
- The Washington Post: It’s time to focus on potential long-term organ damage from covid-19
- Medscape: Understanding the Puzzling Pathology of COVID-19
- New Study Published in the New England Journal of Medicine Shows COVID-19 Causes Blood Vessel Damage
Help us get the word out with your SUPPORT.
CONVENING THE EXPERTS
We are tapping into our worldwide network of health and disease experts to share information and catalyze new ideas that can help move humanity towards a faster solution to the COVID-19 crisis. In addition to preventing and treating acute disease, we are working hard to find answers and treatments that will help people recover from long-term COVID-19.
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We are organizing biotech and medical device innovators whose technologies could be applied to the vascular damage in COVID-19.
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We are bringing together patient advocates, academic and community leaders, medical associations, policymakers, and industry leaders to accelerate progress in treatment and recovery.
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We are working to bring nutrition to the forefront as a tool to help prevent, treatment, and heal from COVID-19.
Please SUPPORT our efforts to bring the right experts together.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Are you a patient?
Are you a physician?
Are you a researcher?
Get involved by contributing to our COVID-19 research. In the form below, please share your area of expertise and how you would like to collaborate with The Angiogenesis Foundation.