Peripheral artery disease, or PAD, is a condition where the arteries that carry blood to your arms and legs become narrow. This usually happens in the legs and means that not enough blood gets to your muscles, especially when you’re moving around.
Without enough oxygen-rich blood, your muscles struggle to work properly, and you may start to feel pain, tiredness, or other symptoms. PAD is more common than people think and can become dangerous if ignored.
One of the most common signs of PAD is leg pain during exercise that goes away when you rest. This is called claudication. It may feel like cramping or tiredness in your calves, thighs, or even buttocks.
The pain usually starts after walking or climbing stairs and disappears after sitting or standing still for a few minutes. Some people may have mild pain, while others may find it hard to walk even short distances.
Other symptoms include numbness or weakness in the legs, a cold feeling in one foot or lower leg (especially compared to the other side), and slow-healing wounds or sores on your feet or toes. The skin on your legs might also look pale, bluish, or shiny, and you may notice hair growing more slowly or not at all on your legs and feet.
In the worst cases, if blood flow becomes extremely limited, tissue may begin to die. This is called gangrene and could lead to losing part of the limb if not treated right away.
PAD usually happens because of a problem called atherosclerosis. This means that fatty deposits, called plaque, build up inside the walls of the arteries. Over time, the arteries become narrower, and blood has trouble getting through. This is the same process that can cause heart disease and strokes.
Several factors increase the risk of developing PAD. Smoking is a major one. People with diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol are also more likely to get it. Age matters too — PAD becomes more common in people over 50. If you have a family history of heart or blood vessel problems, your risk may also be higher.
Doctors can check for PAD using a simple test called the ankle-brachial index, or ABI. This test compares the blood pressure in your ankle to the blood pressure in your arm. If the pressure in your leg is much lower, it’s a sign that blood isn’t flowing well. In some cases, doctors may use ultrasound or special scans to look at your arteries and see how much they are blocked.
The good news is that PAD can often be managed with lifestyle changes. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do. Exercise, especially walking, can help your body grow new tiny blood vessels that go around the blockage.
This means you may be able to walk farther with less pain over time. Eating healthy — cutting down on foods with saturated fat and cholesterol — can help prevent further damage to your arteries.
Doctors may also give medications to help. These might include drugs to lower your blood pressure or cholesterol, or to keep your blood from clotting. Some medicines can also help reduce pain and improve your ability to walk. One common type of medicine, called statins, helps lower cholesterol and protects the heart.
If these steps don’t help enough, your doctor might recommend a medical procedure. One common method is angioplasty, where a small balloon is used to open up the artery.
Sometimes a tiny tube, called a stent, is placed to keep the artery open. In more serious cases, doctors may need to do surgery to bypass the blocked artery and create a new path for blood to flow.
Special exercise programs called supervised walking or cardiac rehab can also help people with PAD. These are safe, guided sessions where professionals help you increase how much you can move without pain.
PAD is a serious condition, but it doesn’t have to take over your life. With the right steps — stopping smoking, staying active, eating healthy, and following your doctor’s advice — you can reduce your symptoms, stay independent, and avoid bigger problems like heart attacks, strokes, or amputations. Recognizing the early signs and taking action makes all the difference.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that vitamin K helps cut heart disease risk by a third, and a year of exercise reversed worrisome heart failure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about supplements that could help prevent heart disease, stroke, and results showing this food ingredient may strongly increase heart disease death risk.
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