Peripheral Artery Disease- A Brief Perspective

Peripheral Artery Disease, also called Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) is a commonly occurring complication of circulatory system under which the narrowed arteries reduce blood flow into the limbs.

Putting it in simple way, you are supposed to be suffering from the peripheral artery disease when your limbs, particularly legs are unable to receive the required amount of blood to keep up the required demand and as a result, the symptom follows which is pain while walking.


PAD could also be attributed to the accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries. What’s more, this condition could also be keeping a reduced blood flow to heart, brain and legs. One can easily cure a Peripheral Artery Disease by making some simple changes such as exercising, quitting tobacco and not to forget having a healthy diet.

Symptoms Of Peripheral Artery Disease:

• Leg weakness and numbness
• Coldness in one side lower leg or foot 
• Painful cramping in the thigh, calf muscles and hip 
• Toes sore, feet or legs that don’t heal 
• Sudden change in the color of any leg 
• Slow hair loss or hair loss on legs and feet
• Impaired growth of the toenails 
• Shiny skin on the legs 
• Weak or no pulse at all in the feet or legs 
• Noticing of erectile dysfunction in men 

Leading Causes Of Peripheral Artery Disease 

The first and major cause of Peripheral Artery Disease is atherosclerosis followed by fatty accumulation or deposits know as plaques in the artery walls and as a result, curtail blood flow, blood vessel inflammation (less commonly occurring cause), injury to the limbs, radiation exposure and unusual anatomy of muscles or ligaments.

Risk Factors

Some of the leading factors that could easily put you at the risk of developing Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) are;

• Diabetes
• Smoking 
• Obesity or a BMI score above 30 
• Hypertension or high blood pressure 
• High cholesterol (increase in LDL levels) 
• Adult age especially after touching 50 
• Family history of PDA, stroke or heart disease
• Having high levels of homocysteine 
• People having diabetes and smoking are at the highest risk of developing PDA 

Treatment 

Generally prescribed medications when taken under the able guidance of a registered medical practitioner could be one of the major treatment options to go for Peripheral Artery Disease. Taking Plavix can also correct the condition. The only thing is taking proper guidance from a doctor before taking up the medicine.

People shall also see the aforementioned risk factors and try to keep away from them as much as possible to curtail the risk of developing Peripheral Artery Disease in the near future. They should also report to a niche doctor when they observe any of the symptoms as mentioned above emerging.