What happens if lower limb arteries are narrowed or blocked?
The lower limb arteries provide leg muscles with blood and oxygen. If the blood flow is interrupted by a blocked artery, the lack of oxygen leads to muscle pain during exercise, typically when walking quickly or when going upstairs. You have to interrupt the exercise and stand still. After some minutes of resting you can continue walking. The blood vessels continue to narrow over months and years, and at some point the arteries become completely blocked. The pain free walking distance decreases, the pauses necessary when walking increase. Finally, complaints occur after a few meters of walking or during slight physical exercise. The medical term of this distress is peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Is PAD a dangerous disease? When the obstruction of a large artery occurs suddenly or several segments of lower limb arteries are blocked, the blood pressure in the foot drops, and the lack of oxygen threatens the musculature and tissue. This is characteristic for a critical state of PAD (t
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