What is Claudication?
Claudication is pain that you experience in your calf or thigh muscle that occurs after you have walked a certain distance. The pain stops after you rest for a while. Each time the pain occurs, it takes about the same amount of time for the pain to go away after you stop walking. It's due to inadequate blood flow to the muscles. The pain usually causes you to limp. Claudication occurs because there is no blood flow to a muscle.
What is PAD?
Peripheral artery disease can cause the artery that normally supplies blood to the muscle to get narrow so that less blood can flow through the artery. When you walk, the working muscle needs more blood. The narrowed artery may not let enough through.
Health Screening
The test for checking the blood flow in your legs is called a Doppler study or Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI). The test is painless
A good portion of people who have peripheral artery disease do not have symptom, that is why screening is so important. Check out HealthYes! for more information on
Monday, June 22, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Peripheral Artery Disease: 5 People at High Risk
1. Being a smoker puts you at an increase by almost 4 times compared to non smokers for peripheral artery disease.
2. Having a family history of stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease put you at higher risk for peripheral artery disease.
3. Those that are considered obese (25 or more Body Mass Index-BMI) are more prone to developing heart disease.
4. Having diabetes mellitus puts you at risk for developing peripheral artery disease.
5. My favorite, lack of physical activity continues to be on the list for many illness risk and greatly effects those at risk for peripheral artery disease. The reason it's my favorite is that it's so easy to do. Even physically disabled are able to find some form of exercise that meets their needs.
5 simple words- get peripheral artery disease screening.
2. Having a family history of stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease put you at higher risk for peripheral artery disease.
3. Those that are considered obese (25 or more Body Mass Index-BMI) are more prone to developing heart disease.
4. Having diabetes mellitus puts you at risk for developing peripheral artery disease.
5. My favorite, lack of physical activity continues to be on the list for many illness risk and greatly effects those at risk for peripheral artery disease. The reason it's my favorite is that it's so easy to do. Even physically disabled are able to find some form of exercise that meets their needs.
5 simple words- get peripheral artery disease screening.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Peripheral Artery Disease Symptoms: Things To Think About
PERIPHERAL ARTERY DISEASE (PAD)
Many people don't have serious symptoms. I asked my doctor and he says that some people only notice pain in their legs. However, in reality, only half the people who are eventually diagnosed have symptoms, others do not.
The Legs
The most common symptom is leg cramps. But you can also have tingling and stinging in the legs and experience weakness. If I had a sore on my leg or foot that didn't heal, my first thought would be diabetes. But this also a potential symptom for PAD. The pain can also travel up and you can feel discomfort in your buttocks.
Other Important Body Part
I did not know impotence was a potential side effect. I hadn't thought about this but it makes sense. The disease effects blood vessels that supply blood flow to the lower extremities.
Peripheral Artery disease screening is one way to help with early detection. But you can also start by investigating your own family history of illnesses and health problems.
Many people don't have serious symptoms. I asked my doctor and he says that some people only notice pain in their legs. However, in reality, only half the people who are eventually diagnosed have symptoms, others do not.
The Legs
The most common symptom is leg cramps. But you can also have tingling and stinging in the legs and experience weakness. If I had a sore on my leg or foot that didn't heal, my first thought would be diabetes. But this also a potential symptom for PAD. The pain can also travel up and you can feel discomfort in your buttocks.
Other Important Body Part
I did not know impotence was a potential side effect. I hadn't thought about this but it makes sense. The disease effects blood vessels that supply blood flow to the lower extremities.
Peripheral Artery disease screening is one way to help with early detection. But you can also start by investigating your own family history of illnesses and health problems.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Busy Person's Guide To Peace Of Mind
Do you find yourself sacrificing healthy habits to get things done quickly? I find myself doing that. Eating fast food so I can get to a meeting on time instead of sitting down for a healthy salad. Going to bed later and later to get things done during the only time I have to get things done...in the evening.
In fact, we all find ways to cut corners of healthy living. Sometimes I wonder if I am neglecting my health when things are really hectic. I've been reading more and more about heart disease and preventive screening options. Something that I've never heard of that I didn't know was available was mobile health screening. I mean this makes sense to me. Fast and convenient.
Honestly I thought that they would take some blood and my blood pressure and send me on my way. But I'm finding that there are certain health risk I fall into that mobile health screening can actually screen for such as:
Peripheral artery disease
Osteoporosis
Stroke
Preventive health screening has come a long way. So my first step is to check with the human resources person at my job to see if they provide screening and what type of preventive screening will they be willing to pay for if they don't offer it.
I also decided to include some frequently asked questions on mobile health screening that I think would be helpful to print out and give to my HR department.
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