What is Peripheral Arterial Disease?
Pad or peripheral arterial disease is essentially a blockage of the arteries in the lower extremities. That is what we mean by peripheral arteries — leg arteries blocked by hardening of the arteries, buildup of cholesterol, plaque and calcium. This in part is a process of aging, but certainly also brought on by smoking. Diabetes is another risk factor, as is hypertension. There are other degenerative factors that we cannot explain completely because there are people who don’t smoke, who don’t have diabetes, who get blockages in their arteries. Problem is that a lot of these patients with symptoms are mistaken for having arthritis. Patients will say that every time I try to walk I have pain in my legs. These are often elderly patients and so these symptoms are mistaken for arthritis and the health practioner may ask them to take aspirin. It is very important to ask for the typical symptom of the patient. The typical symptoms of blockage of the arteries in the legs are that every time t
