Five things you should know about peripheral artery disease (PAD)
Clogged arteries are a major health risk, no matter where in your body they are. In your chest, an artery blocked by plaque can dramatically raise your risk of a heart attack. In your neck, the same condition can lead to a stroke.
What’s not so well known is that the arteries carrying blood to other parts of your body – the body’s “peripheral arteries” – can also get clogged, said Derrick Green, MD, MBA, an M Health Fairview vascular surgeon and interim division chief of vascular services at University of Minnesota Medical School. This, too, can be a serious condition, called peripheral artery disease (PAD). The most common type of PAD affects the arteries that supply blood to the legs.
PAD is a serious condition that should be diagnosed promptly so doctors can reduce your risk as quickly as possible.
PAD may be your first warning sign of a serious health problem. Atherosclerosis—or clogging—in the peripheral arteries is dangerous. If you have atherosclerosis in your legs, it’s almost certainly occurring elsewhere in the body. That’s why all patients with PAD, regardless of whether leg pain is present, are at increased short-term risk of a heart attack or a stroke.
This risk means that one in five people with PAD, if left undiagnosed and untreated, will have a heart attack, stroke, or death within five years. Untreated PAD can have other serious consequences, including leg muscle pain, discomfort during exercise, and loss of mobility and independence. In rare cases, both blockages and blood clots in the arteries may lead to pain at rest, foot skin ulcers, or amputation. The good news is that these health problems can almost always be prevented.
It is important that people with PAD receive a comprehensive health care evaluation early to help prevent complications of arterial disease throughout the body. In patients with advanced PAD, early treatment is critical to prevent foot ulceration and possible amputation.
Some people are more likely than others to experience PAD.
PAD is extremely common and affects as many as 5% of all adults and 20% of people over age 65. You’re more likely to develop PAD if you:
Are 50 years or older.
Now smoke or have ever smoked.
Have diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.
Have a parent or sibling diagnosed with PAD.
Have previously had a heart attack or stroke.
You may not know you have PAD.
Some people with PAD experience no symptoms at all. Many others notice that they can’t walk as far or fast as they used to without experiencing leg muscle pain or cramping—which is called claudication. Still, many affected people may chalk this pain up to ordinary aging or lack of exercise. Vascular medicine specialists and other health professionals should evaluate people with hallmark warning signs—including leg pain or cramping as well as sores or wounds on the feet that don’t heal within a month of injury.
Learn more about M Health Fairview’s peripheral artery disease diagnosis and treatment.
PAD can be treated—and the treatment is easy, safe, inexpensive, and most often, noninvasive.
Over the last 25 years, groundbreaking research conducted by M Health Fairview clinicians and researchers in collaboration with national colleagues have proven that very specific exercise routines can be as effective in the treatment of claudication pain as inserting a balloon into the affected artery to open up blockages.
This procedure is sometimes necessary and can be helpful, but exercise programs can be equally or even more effective than any other treatment. Medications, smoking cessation, and increased patient knowledge are all essential components of care that can quickly lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, amputation, and death.
Learn more about M Health Fairview’s vascular medicine program.
M Health Fairview is uniquely positioned to diagnose and treat the problem.
M Health Fairview offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and cost-effective clinical approach to all vascular care. Our vascular medicine specialists, surgeons, radiologists, and rehabilitation experts collaborate as one team to treat the entire disease process and ensure patients have the best possible outcomes. Our dedicated peripheral artery disease rehabilitation program is fully integrated into our healthcare system for ease of access for our patients. We offer both open and endovascular options to treat peripheral vascular disease as well as the option to monitor patients closely in the outpatient setting with nonoperative management.
