Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is caused when plague (substance made up of fat and cholesterol) is formed on the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the limbs. The peripheral arteries are narrowed or blocked, which restricts the blood flow to the limbs.

Complication of peripheral arterial disease – Certain complications can develop if plagues is build up in the blood vessels –

Stroke and heart attack – Peripheral arterial disease though most usually affects the legs but fat deposition can take place in the arteries that supply blood to heart and brain. This causes heart attack or stoke.

Critical limb ischemia – The condition begins with open sores that don’t heal, including injury and infection in legs or feet.

Symptoms of peripheral arterial disease

Causes of Peripheral arterial disease

The risk of peripheral arterial disease increases as you get aged (older than age 50). Men are more likely to develop the disease in comparison to women. Other factors that triggers the disease includes –

In some cases, blood vessel inflammation, unusual anatomy of ligaments or muscles, limbs injury, and radiation exposure can also cause peripheral arterial disease.

Treatments for peripheral arterial disease

Dietary changes and exercises help a lot in treating the PAD as it stops or reverses the build-up of plague. Surgeries are performed in some cases to open the blocked arteries. In angioplasty, the surgeon inserts a long, thin, flexible tube called catheter through a blood vessel to the affected area. The balloon on the device is inflated to reopen the artery, which increase the blood flow in it. Bypass surgery is performed in sever cases, in which a graft bypass is created by using a vessel from another part of the patient’s body. Thrombolytic therapy is used to dissolve the clot by injecting a clot-dissolving drug into the patient’s artery.