
This evening while seated on my sofa (next to house plants) reading "The Energy Paradox" (Steven R. Gundry, MD, 2021), a .7 centimeter star-shaped plant fiber(?) landed on my knee. Since I had just been reading about the brain's neurons' mitochondria, this "star link" probably directed quick research online ... which soon landed on the topic of "astrocytes".

Naturally, reading that the astrocyte had a star shape seemed sufficient clue about the mysterious arrival of the plant fiber (5 star-shape arms with white outline and veggie green centers). The following quick scan of internet articles suggested a reasonable message (from wherever)
about the plant fiber, now saved:

Re:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/315680
" 'Helper cells' can turn toxic in brain injury and diseases"
"For a long time, scientists believed that astrocytes – star-shaped cells in the central nervous system that outnumbers neurons by around five to one – were simply packing cells that provide structural support to neurons. More recently, it has become clear that astrocytes perform a wide variety of complex and essential roles in the brain and the rest of the central nervous system. For example, it is now known that astrocytes enhance neuron survival and help to shape brain circuitry."
"A1 astrocytes appear to lose the ability to help neurons survive and grow connections. Instead, they induce the death of neurons and oligodendrocytes, the cells that help to grow the myelin sheath that insulates connections between neurons. In further experiments, the researchers showed that blocking A1 astrocytes stopped them killing neurons.
The researchers also found that A1 astrocytes are abundant in various human neurodegenerative diseases, including: Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis. For example, in tissue samples from Alzheimer’s patients, they found that nearly 60 percent of the astrocytes in the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain where the disease causes the most damage, were A1 astrocytes."

Re:
https://www.nature.com/subjects/astrocyte
"Astrocytes are the largest and most prevalent type of glial cell in the central nervous system. Astrocytes contribute to formation of the blood–brain barrier, participate in the maintenance of extracellular ionic and chemical homeostasis, are involved in the response to injury, and affect neuronal development and plasticity."

Re:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8074612/
"Astrocyte Activation in Neurovascular Damage and Repair Following Ischaemic Stroke"
"Astrocytes have several important roles in the healthy and diseased brain. They are the main housekeeping cells of the brain, and
can exert either protective or detrimental effects on neurons during pathophysiological conditions. Astrocytes are essential for the development and maintenance of the BBB, homeostasis of the brain microenvironment, cerebral blood flow regulation, neurotransmitter uptake, synaptogenesis, neurogenesis and release of neurotrophic factors and energy supply to neurons. Astrocytes also play a major role during pathophysiological conditions. Neuronal survival heavily depends on astrocytes."

Re:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10 ... 62578/full
"Neurotropic Viruses, Astrocytes, and COVID-19", 09 April 2021
"The role of astrocytes in COVID-19 pathology, related to aging and neurodegenerative disorders, and environmental factors"
"Human coronaviruses (CoVs) were first identified in the mid-1960s and were named for the crown-like spikes on their surface ... The primary target cells for SARS-CoV-2 are the epithelial cells of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract that contain angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is utilized by the virus to enter the cell ... Indeed, there is evidence that SARS-CoV-2 affects the central nervous system (CNS) through which it also contributes to the pathophysiology of COVID-19"

Wild guess about the message of the star-like fiber ...
Both COVID-19 and mRNA vaccines (present the same "crown-like spikes" on a cell's surface) interfere with astrocytes' natural interaction with the brain's neurons. Focus on astrocytes may lead to better understanding of brain dysfunction caused by COVID-19 (and mRNA vaccines?).

See also: Two articles hinting of linkage between astrocyte dysfunction and vaccines:

Re:
https://www.cell.com/trends/immunology/ ... 0072-2.pdf
"Astrocytes: Key Regulators of Neuroinflammation"
"Astrocytes are crucial regulators of
innate and adaptive immune responses in the injured central nervous system. Depending on timing and context, astrocyte activity may exacerbate inflammatory reactions and tissue damage, or promote immunosuppression and tissue repair."

Re:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-021-00880-0
"In a recent paper in Science, Ugur Sahin, who led the development of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, and coauthors have now harnessed this vaccine technology to
suppress, rather than prime, antigen-specific immune responses. Working with mouse models of multiple sclerosis, they show that immunization with a modified mRNA encoding a self antigen and delivered in a non-inflammatory lipoplex carrier leads to a dampening of autoimmunity through the activation of antigen-specific regulatory T cells."

Hmmm ... "interfere with astrocytes' natural interaction with the brain's neurons" is unsettling,
especially when that interaction controls the well-being or elimination of neurons
"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature" comes to mind!
(re:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijVijP-CDVI , 1970s)

Re:
https://health.gov/our-work/national-he ... ction-plan
"National Action Plan for ADE Prevention", August 2021

This planning is evidence that the government anticipates ADE repercussion.
Rod
