ARTICLES / General /
Fighting Your Legs /
Other ArticlesBy
Dr.
Gary M. Ansel
Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD), a condition
synonymous with the clogging of arteries in the body’s
lower extremities, is often referred to as a “silent
killer” that can bring with it potentially grave results
that include gangrene, amputation, or death.
Data
shows that PAD currently affects approximately eight
million men and women over the age of 40 in the United
States. What’s more, the risk of developing PAD
increases dramatically as people grow older, with as
many as one in 20 Americans over the age of 50 developing the disease.
Although PAD is prevalent among the senior population,
current statistics shows public awareness about the
disease is low. In fact, only 25 percent of those afflicted
receive treatment, in large part due to frequent
misdiagnosis of commonly mistaken symptoms. In many
instances, especially among the senior community, PAD is
mistaken for arthritis or aging pains, allowing the
disease to remain undiagnosed, untreated, and left to
intensify.
PAD
develops when arteries in the legs become clogged with
plaque comprised of fatty deposits, calcium, and
cholesterol, and blood flow to the legs becomes limited
or blocked. In severe cases, the arterial blockages can
cause circulation problems that reduce blood flow to the
brain and heart, which then elevate the risk for stroke
and heart attack.
PAD is
broken down into two stages that worsen as blood flow to
the legs decreases: claudication and critical limb
ischemia (CLI). Claudication, the first stage, begins
with a feeling of fatigue or heaviness in the lower
extremities or buttocks and progresses to significant
discomfort during activity. Patients with buttock
claudication will frequently stop walking until the pain
goes away, a condition know as “window shopper’s
disease.” The second stage, CLI, starts off with pain
while resting or sitting and, if left untreated, may
lead to gangrene. Within the CLI population alone, at
least 200,000 amputations are performed each year.
In
addition to the correlation between PAD and the
aging population, diabetics are also especially
susceptible to PAD because they have difficulty
properly processing the sugar they ingest. Also,
smoking and heritage, such as African Americans,
Hispanic Americans and Native Americans, are
heightened risks for developing severe PAD that
results in amputation.
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