Clotted capillaries spit to survive

I wonder if a similar process might be at work in the pathogenesis of age related macular degeneration..

Uvealblues

NORTHWESTERN (US)—Capillaries have a unique method of expelling debris, such as blood clots, cholesterol or calcium plaque, that blocks the flow of essential nutrients to brain cells.

They spit out the blockage by growing a membrane that envelopes the obstruction and then shoves it out of the blood vessel.

In an aging brain, this process is 30 to 50 percent slower—which likely results in the death of more capillaries.

“The slowdown may be a factor in age-related cognitive decline and may also explain why elderly patients who get strokes do not recover as well as younger patients,” explains Jaime Grutzendler, assistant professor of neurology and of physiology atNorthwestern University. “Their recovery is much slower.”