I briefly discussed hypertension and fucoidan in my previous blog. Hypertension has a risk of causing negative effects on health which can lead to heart failure, coronary artery disease, stroke, kidney disease, peripheral artery disease and hypertensive retinopathy. Hypertension is also associated with type 2 diabetes therefore, I will be discussing the complications caused by hypertension and how can these be reduced with the help of fucoidan.

First of all, I would like to discuss how hypertension is responsible for impediments of health. High blood pressure causes the blood vessels to contract and ultimately blocks the smooth flow of blood which in turn causes illness like coronary artery disease, stroke, kidney disease, peripheral artery disease and hypertensive retinopathy.

So, then the question arises, how does fucoidan help in reducing blood pressure? Answer to that is:

When angiotensin I turn into angiotensin II with the help of angiotensin-changing enzyme also (ACE), blood vessels get contracted resulting in high blood pressure. ACE also breaks down bradykinin, an inflammatory mediator (a compound that causes blood vessels to enlarge with the release of prostacyclin, nitric oxide and Endothelium-Derived Hyperpolarizing Factor) and prevents it from activating. Fucoidan has multiple effects, firstly it helps slow down the activation of ACE, it foils the creation of angiotensin II and lastly protecting bradykinin from degradation.

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As I discussed in my previous blog, according to Xiaofeo, the majority of forms of hypertension result from an increased vasomotor tone activity which is regulated by endothelial NOS (eNOS) in vascular endothelium. Fucoidan increases nitric oxide production by activating eNOS and phosphorylation of AKT. Or eNOS inhibitors. This nitric oxide helps expand blood vessels and make the circulation of blood smooth. The hypertensive rat model showed us that, with the treatment of fucoidan, there was a potent and persistent reduction in high blood pressure (BP) even after the withdrawal of the drug.