Peripheral arterial disease

What is?

Peripheral arterial disease is a disease in which the narrowing and hardening of the arteries that transport blood to the lower limbs of the body such as the legs and feet occurs when the blood vessels are too narrow, blood flow can be decreased And impaired, leading to a series of complications for the patient.

Symptoms

Coronary artery disease may not look like any symptoms. When there are symptoms, one of the most common is chest pain, called angina.

This pain usually appears as a heavy pressure below the sternum.

You may feel it in your abdomen, and you may think it is a gastric disorder.

You may feel a lot of pressure on your neck, shoulders, arms, and even jaw signs that the angina flow is not correct, when you have angina, you may also frequently have shortened breathing where blood is not corresponding, aversion to Light, cold sweats, or nausea, angina tends to happen with exertion, after a heavy meal, or with emotional tension.

However, angina can also happen when you are resting. The pain occurs more accessible and more often in cold weather.

Causes

Peripheral arterial disease is often caused by atherosclerosis, a condition in which fat deposits build up in the walls of the arteries and impair blood flow.

Although atherosclerosis is much more common in the coronary arteries, that is, in the heart part, the disease can often affect the arteries throughout the body.

When the limbs, especially the lower ones are affected by this obstruction of the vessels, doctors claim to be a peripheral arterial disease.

Treatment

The treatments have medications, such as those used for relief of claudication and those that cause clots to break down (thrombolytic medicines or fibrinolytic see Medication treatment), angioplasty, surgery and other various measures such as practice exercises and foot care.

The treatments used depend significantly on the severity of the symptoms, the severity, and location of the obstruction, the risks that will be related to the procedure (particularly in the case of surgery), as well as the general health of the person.

Regardless of the specific treatments used, people still need to modify risk factors for atherosclerosis to improve their overall prognosis. Angioplasty and surgery are just mechanical measures to correct an immediate problem.

They do not cure the underlying disease.