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Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi first discovered the biological importance of bioflavonoids. Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi was born in Budapest, but was claimed by the U. S. and Hungary alike, and he conducted his research while spending time in Cambridge, England; the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota; Woods Hole, Massachusetts and Hungary.

Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi was more than a pioneer of biochemistry -- he was a "father" of biochemistry. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1937 for his discovery of the biological oxidation process with special regard to vitamin C and fumaric acid catalysis. In 1928 he isolated what he at first called "hexuronic acid," but is now called "ascorbic acid" or vitamin C. He also "discovered" the muscle protein actin, actomyosin and their relationship to ATP. He discovered the C4 dicarboxylic acid catalysis that forms the basis of the Krebs cycle which was pioneering research on how food is converted into energy. His keen mind and bright ideas opened the doors to many areas of biochemical research. He taught us so much, yet he was often labeled a "maverick" because of his new ideas

Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi always professed that his discovery of the biological function of bioflavonoids was serendipitous. He found something he did not seek. While he was trying to isolate vitamin C, his colleague Professor I. (St.) Rusznyak had a patient with subcutaneous capillary bleedings. They thought that vitamin C might help, so they gave the patient an impure preparation that contained vitamin C plus other compounds. They achieved a rapid success. Later, a similar patient was treated with a pure solution of vitamin C expecting quicker success, but instead, the pure solution had no effect. So they went back to the impure solution. Dr Szent-Gyorgyi suspected that a flavone might be the key factor.

In 1935, Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi and his associate Dr. I. (St.) Rusznyak, isolated a "factor" from lemon juice that decreased the permeability and increased the resistance of the capillary wall. At first, chemical analysis indicated that this factor was a single flavonoid compound and it was named "citrin." Because of the effect on capillary health, Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi also called this factor "vitamin P." [Nature 138:798;1936, Nature 137:27;1936]

By 1936, studies by Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi and associates with guinea pigs indicated bioflavonoids and vitamin C were synergistic and interdependent. In 1936, Dr. Janey reported the favorable effects of flavonoids on intact and poisoned frog hearts. In 1937, Dr. Huszak reported on the biochemistry of parenterally administered "citrin." Other researchers such as Zemplen, Bognar, and Farkas actively researched the biochemistry of flavonoids. However, in 1938, Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi reported that he could not substantiate that bioflavonoids were truly essential nutrients.

It was the discovery in Szeged that called attention to the biological actions of flavonoids, and from 1940 onwards, researchers from many countries began studying the biochemical effects of flavonoids such as catechins, proanthocyanidins, rutin, etc. Hungarian researchers had started the research on the biochemistry of flavonoids, and today remain leaders in the field.

Professor Gabor was now carrying on bioflavonoid research at the University named in honor of Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi (Americanized pronunciation is Saint Jor'-jee).

Miklos Gabor of the Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Medical University of Szeged, Hungary. Dr.  has published more than 200 research reports and five books on flavonoids. He has also served as the scientific editor of other books on bioflavonoids. In 1990, Dr. Gabor received the Jancso Medal and Award for his outstanding results and scientific work of high quality, and in 1993, he received the Novicardin Prize awarded by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Currently Dr Gabor is the world's leading expert on the role of bioflavonoids and capillary health.

In 1965, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences founded a Committee for Flavonoid research. In 1965 and 1967, the first and second international symposia on bioflavonoid were held.

In 1972, Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi wrote the foreword to "The Anti-inflammatory Action of Flavonoids." The foreword to the 1986 English-language book, "The Pharmacology of Benzopyrone Derivatives (Flavonoids) and Related Compounds" which was written by Professor Elliott Middleton, Jr. of the State University of New York at Buffalo.

The estimated daily dietary intake of flavonoids in the United States is about one gram in a diet containing whole grains and cereals, potatoes, bulbs, roots, peanuts, nuts, vegetables, herbs, fruits, fruit juices, cocoa, cola, coffee, beer and wine. Flavonoids may be present in amounts up to a hundred milligrams per kilogram of fresh weight in soft fruits and their juices. Anthocyanin may be present in rich amounts in some foods such as raspberry, which can contain hundreds of milligrams per hundred grams of fresh weight. Notable sources of anthocyanins are red cabbage, onion, beans, radishes, and rhubarb sticks.

The concentration of catechins in ripe fruits is about five -to-twenty milligrams per hundred grams of fresh weight. Dimeric proanthocyanidins occur in unripe berries and the leaves of soft fruit plants in amounts ranging between fifty and five hundred milligrams per hundred grams of fresh weight. Some proanthocyanidins are present in apples and grapes. Flavonoids are in tea, cocoa, wine and beer.

There certainly is a synergism between vitamin C and the bioflavonoids. They protect each other against oxidation and have other interactions. Lets discuss the importance of bioflavonoids to health. Capillaries are important because they carry nutrients to cells and then carry away waste. Capillaries must be permeable enough to allow fluids to seep out of the capillaries, mix with the fluid that surrounds all of the cells, and then reenter the capillaries. If the capillaries become too permeable, too much fluid and protein seep out resulting in edema, and even red blood cells may also seep out causing bruising and red spots. Petechiae occurs small hemorrhages appearing as red spots, formation permitted by weak capillaries. If capillaries are too permeable, they are no longer a barrier to infection.

Most people assume that it's the high blood pressure alone that bursts the blood vessels, but it is the decreased capillary resistance and increased permeability that cause the blood vessel to bleed and weaken enough to burst.

So, if low capillary resistance is common in people with high blood pressure, and this is a major factor that leads to stroke and retinal hemorrhage, these studies are of major importance to the millions of people with high blood pressure.

Special mention should be made of the observation that, if hypertension is associated with a low capillary resistance, the incidence of cerebral insults (apoplexy, stroke) and retinal hemorrhage is essentially higher [Griffith and Lindauer, 1944]. It was established by Paterson in 1940 that capillary rupture accompanied by intimal bleeding plays a role in the mechanism of cerebral arterial thrombosis. He assumed that, at the intracapillary pressure resulting from the high blood pressure, the capillary fragility (which is enhanced for various reasons) is responsible for the intimal rupture of the cerebral arterial capillaries.

Many people having fragile capillaries might result in problems such as bleeding gums, floaters caused by bleeding into the retina, glaucoma, bleeding kidneys, hemorrhoids, bruising, headaches and stroke. There have also been additional European studies that show that using Bioflavonoids as a nutritional adjunct helps against varicose veins, heavy menstrual bleeding, hemorrhoids and the complications of diabetes.