Your arteries carry blood rich in oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. When the arteries in your legs become blocked, your legs do not receive enough blood or oxygen, and you may acquire a condition called peripheral artery disease (PAD), also referred to as leg artery disease. Peripheral artery disease is a condition that share similarities with coronary artery disease and carotid artery disease. In PAD, fatty deposits build up in the inner linings of the artery walls.
These blockages restrict blood circulation, mainly in arteries leading to the kidneys, stomach, arms, legs and feet (MedicineNet. com). Symptoms of Peripheral Artery Disease In its early stages a common symptom is cramping or fatigue in the legs and buttocks during activity. Such cramping subsides when the person stands still. This is called “intermittent claudication (MetroHealth). ” People with PAD often have fatty buildup in the arteries of the heart and brain. Because of this association, most people with PAD have a higher risk of death from heart attack and stroke.
In severe peripheral artery disease, you may develop painful sores on your toes or feet. If the circulation in your leg does not improve, these ulcers can start as dry, gray, or black sores, and eventually become dead tissue (called gangrene). Physical and Psychological Effects of PAD There are several physical effects of PAD on the body. As Peripheral Artery Disease causes damage primarily on the legs and feet, the afflicted would commonly suffer from cramping in the area, to total immobility. In severe cases, the legs and feet become deformed, turning red and becoming wrinkled and sore.
Other physical effects include shrinking of the calf, hair loss over the toes and feet, and painful non-bleeding ulcers on the feet or toes (usually black) that are slow to heal and difficult to apply treatment. Aside from the physical effects, the psychological effects also take its toll on the afflicted. As most patients of PAD are among the age of 60 and above, their immobility caused by the disease often seperates them from being socially active. In some cases, these patients feel that they become liabilties to their families, having to be assisted on at all times due to their condition.
As they are also immobile, some patients lose interest in having an active lifestyle, and become irritable and indifferent towards other people (The New England Journal of Medicine). Treatment for Peripheral Artery Disease There are several methods for the prevention and treatment of PAD. Initial treatment of PAD includes making lifestyle changes to reduce your risk factors. Yet through all of these different methods, the biggest obstacle would be the willingness of the patient to change his lifestyle in order to get better.
How he or she responds to the treatment is imperative to his or her recovery. Most of the lifestyle changes would involve giving up habits, such as smoking and eating foods with a lot of cholesterol. Starting to exercise would also help the patient to recover. But with all of these different treatments, it would still be useless unless the patient commits to getting better. Without that commitment from the patient, then none of these methods are going to work, and his or her condition will only get worse as time goes on.