Millions of people are affected by peripheral artery diseases. Many face severe health issues, such as not being able to walk without pain or even losing a leg.
PAD is a disease that increasingly affects people as they age, particularly those with diabetes and those who have ever smoked. PAD is often ignored as many people think the pain or aching is related to aging or arthritis.
Although there is no "cure" for PAD there are many ways to prevent the progression of the disease. Good health practices, a healthy diet, exercise, and not smoking will slow the progression of PAD. Medications can often reduce its symptoms. Control of risk factors (such as blood cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes) and use of "anti-platelet" medications can lessen the effect of the most severe consequences of PAD.
Tips for People with PAD
Work with your doctor
If you have any of these symptoms or more than one of the risk factors for PAD, talk with your doctor. Ask for an examination to test for PAD and to measure its severity. The most common test for PAD measures the blood pressure at your ankles, which is then compared to an arm blood pressure. This test is called the "ABI" or ankle-brachial index. Don't ignore leg pains. Leg pains are not just a part of growing older!
Quit Smoking
We know... everyone tells you this. But smoking is clearly the biggest risk you can have with PAD. Smoking is one of the most important causes of PAD.
Walk
One of the best things you can do is walk. Walking has lots of benefits, even if you can't walk very far.
Ask Medications
Many new medications that can help manage PAD by preventing the formation of blood clots and that can help you walk further without pain.
Improve Diet
Again, work with your doctor, who can help you enjoy a diet that will not only help PAD, but will also reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke, and progression of PAD. You should follow a diet that will control your cholesterol and, if you have diabetes, your blood sugar.
Take All Prescribed Medications
It is very important to keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, and if you have diabetes, blood sugar levels within normal ranges. Your blood pressure should be less than 120/80 mmHg. Your blood cholesterol should be lowered so that the LDL cholesterol is less than 100 mg/dl.
Surgery or Angioplasty
For patients whose walking distances are so short that they cannot perform their jobs or enjoy their lives, there are many safe and effective methods of treating blockages in the arteries supplying blood to the leg. Such methods include angioplasty and endovascular therapy.
The Vascular Disease Foundation (VDF) is a non-profit, organization dedicated to reducing the wide-spread prevalence and effects of vascular diseases. For more information visit the VDF website.