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.

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.