October 3, 2007
Peripheral Artery Disease and Poor Circulation
Peripheral Artery Disease (“PAD”), also known as Peripheral Vascular Disease, often has no symptoms. People who experience symptoms often mistake them for something else, like a back or muscle problem. The most common symptom is painful cramping in the hips, thighs, or calves while walking, climbing stairs, or exercising. This is because the muscles are not getting enough blood flow due to plaque buildup, creating a blockage in the arteries. The pain usually subsides after the person stops exercising.
PAD can lead to open sores that don't heal, injury or infection of the feet and legs, especially if you also have diabetes. Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the extreme of this condition and can cause gangrene, which sometimes requires amputation of the affected limb.
Risk factors such as aging or a personal or family history of PAD, cardiovascular disease or stroke cannot be controlled. However, other risk factors can be controlled such as cigarette smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Those who smoke are generally diagnosed with PAD ten years earlier than non-smokers.
Many other conditions also affect the circulatory system, ranging from heart, kidney, and lung disease and diabetes. Gallstones in the liver may lead to poor circulation, enlargement of the heart and spleen, varicose veins, congested lymph vessels and hormone imbalance. Varicose veins are veins that are so dilated that the valves do not sufficiently close to prevent blood from flowing backward. Common sites of varicose veins are the legs, the esophagus, and the scrotum. Pregnancy can also cause circulatory problems.
Our environment can also be a factor – chemical irritants affect the body in many ways, and the weather, such as extreme cold can depress the circulatory system by causing the blood vessels to constrict, which cuts off the normal blood supply. Smoking is extremely harmful to blood circulation; in addition, drinking excess alcohol and caffeine can all affect circulation.
Poor circulation causes harmful waste matter to overload in the body’s fluids around the cells, which then consequently build up in the lymph vessels and lymph nodes. When lymph drainage slows down or becomes obstructed, the thymus gland, tonsils and spleen start to deteriorate quickly. These organs are an important part of the immune system.
If you have PAD, your feet or hands might feel cold all the time. This usually means that the blood flow from your heart has slowed down. People who have very poor leg circulation may also develop a blood clot in their legs, which can cause severe leg pain. This is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and can occur when a vein is damaged or if blood flow slows down or stops completely. If you’re obese and/or over age 40, you’re particularly at risk for DVT.
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Comments
February 11, 2008
Heart disease and stroke said:
Heart disease and stroke are very closely related for many different reasons. There are many people that have heart disease and do not even realize it. There are some things that everyone should know so that they are not blind to the fact that they could be at risk for having a stroke and possibly dying too young.