your feet hold clues to clogged arteries

7/24/2019 Your Feet Hold Clues to Clogged Arteries

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Feet Hold Clues to Clogged Arteries | Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/07/your-feet-hold-clues-to-clogged-arteries/[8/30/2015 11:10:13 PM]

Your Feet Hold Clues to Clogged ArteriesJuly 23, 2015 / By Daniel Clair, MD

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Peripheral artery disease(PAD) is a buildup of choleerol and plaque in the arteries that lead to the extremities. PAD can cause

discomfort in your legs and feet, limit your walking and activities, or severe PAD can progress to loss oflimb. Your doctor can

check for signs of the disease with a simple teof pulses in your feet.

When choleerol buildup blocks the arteries to your heart, we call this condition coronary artery disease (CAD). In reality, PAD

and CAD are associated with a single disease, atherosclerosis, which is abuildup of choleerol in the arteries throughout the

body. Sometimes the presence of PAD indicates an increased risk for heart disease, so screening and awareness of the connection

between PAD and CAD is important.

Checking for pulses in your feetThe simple te to screen for PAD is to have your physician check for the pulses in your feet during a routine physical exam. In

each foot, there should be two pulses that are easily detected by a trainedphysician. This te is performed to determine whether

the blood ow toyour feet is normal.

The next ep in screening is the ankle brachial index,which uses blood pressure cus on your arm and leg in combination witha

Doppler probe, which uses an ultrasound wave, to help us hear the pulse in the foot. Using this technology, we can better assess
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/vascular/pad_warning_signs.aspxhttp://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/diagnostics-testing/ultrasound-tests/pulse-volume-recordings.aspxhttp://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/diagnostics-testing/ultrasound-tests/pulse-volume-recordings.aspxhttp://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/vascular/pad_warning_signs.aspx


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the bloodow to the area. For mo people, blood pressure in the foot should besimilar to the blood pressure in the arm. A drop of

as little as 10 percent in that pressure can be an indication of peripheral artery disease.

Generic screenings could oer false positivesYou might have encountered oers for comprehensive screening/teing at community events, oered by for-prot companies,

or surgical or interventional groups. These screenings often cover a wide range of conditions everything from oeoporosis to

coronary artery disease. You are probably better o being seen by your primary care doctor, who knows you be, to nd out

whether you ought to have a specic te performed. Theres no proof of benet to generic teing, and it can have unforeseen

consequences, including false positive results that put you at risk for other invasive, unnecessary procedures.

Signs of a problemPeople whose legs are painful or get tired easily or who have trouble walking diances should have an assessment for PAD.

Current or pa smokers, or anyone with a family hiory of PAD or symptoms of the disease, should also be assessed.

No symptoms, no teing neededScreening for PAD probably doesnt make sense for a healthy individual without symptoms, who is younger than 60 years old,

has neversmoked and has no family hiory of atherosclerosis or heart disease.

In this case, screening may actually expose a patient to more risk. This is because the tes can occasionally be incorrect and lead

to muchmore invasive teing, which has its own inherent risks.

PAD may aect the whole bodyIts important to remember that atherosclerosis is not a localized process; it is a syemic disease that aects the arteries

everywhere in the body.

Medication and lifeyle changes,including opping smoking, are very important for patients who have any evidence of a

decrease in the blood ow in their legs and feet.

Tags: atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, feet, foot health, heart and vascular initute,peripheral artery disease,pulse

Daniel Clair, MD

Daniel Clair, MD, is Chairman of the Department of Vascular Surgery atCleveland Clinic. In 2007, Dr. Clair was

named one of Americas Top Doctors.

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your feet hold clues to clogged arteries

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