The Understanding on Peripheral Arterial Disease
Cardiothoracic Surgery Professor, Jeong, Seong-woon.
Cardiovascular Center in the Pusan National University Hospital
When the arteries leading to legs or arms which are the distal end of the human body are narrowed or blocked, the symptom that blood supply to the legs or arms are lessened or blocked appears. Peripheral arteriopathy can be found easily to the patients having the factors of cardiovascular diseases like diabetes, hypertensions and hyperlipemia or the patients who have smoked long time. This Peripheral Arteriopathy is most frequently developed at the blood vessels lower part of the body like legs and feet while the attack rate in the blood vessels of hand and arms is comparatively low, and the attack rate is rare in the internal organic blood vessels of the liver, kidney, and intestines but developed for the coarctation and blockage of the blood vessels.
The common symptom of this disease is the anesthesia of the legs for diabetes or is not cured easily of the injuries on the legs or feet. A short walking can cause the patient to feel a pain for a long diabetes. The patient can neither walk a long distance nor climb an uphill road that he used to be before and falls down after short walking. In addition, he (the patient) feels that his one foot is a little colder or warmer than the other and that the color of the leg or foot is pale. When touching the pulse around the thighs or ankles, we feel the pulse of one leg is weaker that the other leg we should be examined and cured.
The cause of this symptom is that, by deposit of cholesterol, neutral fat and calcium into the blood vessels, the lumens of blood vessels are so narrowed and losing elasticity that blood supply is lacking and as a result appears ischemia symptom. If the inside of the blood vessels is narrowed, it makes the amount of blood decrease in the part of the lower tissue and this causes the patient to feel a pain in the legs for lack of blood supply and falls down in a short walk in everyday life. Also long period of diabetes makes the blood vessels damaged and bring about the trouble of nerves. If the small arteries in the legs or calves are narrowed or blocked because of long period of diabetes the legs and feet cannot get the blood supply and then the legs and feet are felt cold, the pulse becomes weak, and the legs are in the state of pain. The blockage or narrowness of the arteries necessarily needs examination and it can be found how well the blood flows through the east and fast test of ultrasonography and CT and blood vessel-graphy can be used for a detail checkup.
Chronic lower extremity artery blockage by hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) can be bettered to the patient who is not serious but it is terrible disease losing the leg to the patient suffering from acute pain, and foot-ulcer. Especially, as arteriosclerosis is a disease to penetrate not only into the lower extremity but also into all the arteries and frequently accompanied by other artery-blockade going to another internal organs like heart, brain etc, it is essential to examine the disease. The remedy includes balloon blood vessel plastic surgery, stent insertion and blood vessel detour operation.
The most important thing is nonsmoking for the treatment and prevention of the patient suffering from the lower extremity artery blockage by hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis)And hyperlipemia, hypertension and diabetes need thorough medical treatment as well as proper exercise and weight control. When walking you feel a heavy pain like tightness around calves you feel comfortable after a short stopping or the injuries on your feet can't the chance of being cured in spite of much treatment, you have to consult your specialist doctor.
