Have you experienced muscle cramping in the hips, thighs, or calves while participating in physical activity?
These are common symptoms of a form of atherosclerosis: Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). PAD is a disease that narrows your arteries with fatty deposits, making it more difficult for your heart to pump blood out to your extremities. Typically, PAD attacks the lower extremities (such as your groin, knee, shin or calf) as they are furthest from your heart. Currently, PAD afflicts 8-10 million people in the United States resulting in roughly 150,000 leg amputations each year.
PAD is one of the many diseases that must be caught early on to reduce the necessity for extreme procedures. However, awareness for this disease is lacking. Many adults fail to notice PAD symptoms as they trivialize it down to “just old age” or “being sore”. PAD symptoms can dissipate after the physical activity (running, climbing, jogging, etc.) has concluded. This attribute has lead adults with PAD to become unconcerned about their pains.
The American Heart Association has been working diligently to create a larger awareness about the Peripheral Artery Disease with the PAD National Action Plan. There are six main goals to raise awareness for PAD.
If you would like to get involved in The American Heart Association’s PAD National Action Plan, you can be informed. Provided here is a link to sign up and receive frequently updated information about PAD.
For our consumers, to view any of our PAD detecting equipment you may be lacking in your office click here: ABI PAD Monitoring Systems.