University of Virginia Health System

LEGS FOR LIFE...

Vascular disease is in the news again. September is national vascular disease awareness month. Peripheral arterial disease, or PAD for short, is a type of vascular disease that affects the legs. National awareness about this disease is important for several reasons.

Firstly, PAD is caused by atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries and atherosclerosis is a very common disease in our country. It can block arteries all over our body. Most of us have known someone who has had a heart attack. Heart attacks are also usually caused by atherosclerosis in the arteries to the heart. Atherosclerosis in the arteries to the legs causes PAD.

Secondly, if you have atherosclerosis in the arteries to your legs you want to find it as early as possible. Fortunately, PAD can be detected early. We can identify people at risk for developing atherosclerosis by asking a few simple questions. We can also perform a simple and painless examination to test for the presence of PAD. In mild cases you don’t even know you have it, but atherosclerosis could be slowly narrowing the arteries in your legs. In more advanced cases, you can have pain when you walk. This occurs because the arteries to the legs become so narrow that they cannot carry enough blood to the legs to feed the working muscles. In really severe cases there is so little blood flow to the legs that the muscles and skin begin to die. This shows up as sores on the feet that just won’t go away.

Lastly, PAD can be treated. At the University of Virginia, we have a very experienced team of surgeons, interventional radiologists, cardiologists, technologists and nurses that can often find a way to open up or bypass blocked arteries in the legs. We also can help people with atherosclerosis slow down the progression of the disease.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are a dilatation for stretching of the large artery in the stomach called the aorta. This dilatation (or aneurysm) is closely related to atherosclerosis. These aneurysms can grow to a point where the artery ruptures. Many of these aneurysms go undetected. Fortunately it is possible to identify people at high risk of developing an aneurysm.

We are having a free screening for PAD and abdominal aortic aneurysms at the University of Virginia on Saturday, September 17, 2005 from 8:00 to 12:00 AM. This screening only takes about 30 minutes, but could provide you with important information about your risk factors for developing atherosclerosis and help you find out if you might have PAD. There is no fee, but you need an appointment to attend. Please call 924-DOCS for an appointment.

Atherosclerosis is still the number one killer in this country. Take the time to learn how you can reduce your risks for this disease.