Peripheral Artery Disease

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treatments

PAD treatments include adopting a cholesterol-reducing diet, stopping smoking, controlling diabetes or hypertension, and increasing exercise. Blood thinners and statin drugs are also used to treat the problem. “Once PAD is diagnosed, you’re already on your way to better vascular care,” Flinn says. “Risk factors can be analyzed and addressed, reducing the likelihood of a future stroke or heart attack.”

Exercise is especially important in treating PAD. Sedentary PAD sufferers have two to three times the risk of heart attack and stroke than more active people. Exercise also helps eliminate pain. “Aim for 20 to 30 minutes of vigorous walking, swimming, or biking,” Flinn says. “It’s great for your heart, lungs, and your legs.

Recently the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, in partnership with the PAD Coalition, launched Stay in Circulation: Take Steps to Learn About PAD.

“It’s the first national public-education program dedicated solely to those at risk for PAD,” Flinn says. “We hope it will energize individuals at risk to be more aggressive with their own health care and empower them to encourage their physicians to be more aggressive with their diagnoses and treatments.”

Do You Have Peripheral Arterial Disease?
Click here to check your symptoms. For more information, visit www.padcoalition.org, and www.vascularweb.org.