Peripheral Artery Disease
By: Gretchen Bolander
Updated: September 3, 2010
Peripheral artery disease, or PAD, means there's a cholesterol blockage somewhere outside of the heart. Dr. John Cox warned, "It's dangerous in the sense that it makes a higher risk for all kinds of vascular complications. It creates an increased risk for heart disease, it's a marker for heart disease, for increase risk for stroke. But it can also affect the organs that blood vessel goes to."
Dr. Cox said that can be a leg or a kidney that's not getting enough oxygen. "These are muscle aches that occur with a reliable pattern. You walk to the mailbox, your calves hurt making you stop. You stop for a minute, the pain goes away. That is a classic symptom."
It's a sign you should be tested. Added Dr. Cox, "An ankle brachial index is the blood pressure in your arm, blood pressure in your leg. And your leg pressure should be equal to or slightly greater than the blood pressure in your arm."
Treatment ranges from exercise and smoking cessation to medication and even surgery. If you have a family history, high blood pressure or cholesterol or diabetes, you should consider getting tested.
Dr. Cox said that can be a leg or a kidney that's not getting enough oxygen. "These are muscle aches that occur with a reliable pattern. You walk to the mailbox, your calves hurt making you stop. You stop for a minute, the pain goes away. That is a classic symptom."
It's a sign you should be tested. Added Dr. Cox, "An ankle brachial index is the blood pressure in your arm, blood pressure in your leg. And your leg pressure should be equal to or slightly greater than the blood pressure in your arm."
Treatment ranges from exercise and smoking cessation to medication and even surgery. If you have a family history, high blood pressure or cholesterol or diabetes, you should consider getting tested.
