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Blood Pressure Differences Between Arms Could Signal Heart Risk
Posted 14 days ago by Drugs.com
SUNDAY, Jan. 29 – People whose systolic blood pressure – the upper number in their reading – is different in their left and right arms may be suffering from a vascular disease that could increase their risk of death, British researchers report. The arteries under the collarbone supply blood to the arms, legs and brain. Blockage can lead to stroke and other problems, the researchers noted, and measuring blood pressure in both arms should be routine. "This is an important [finding] for the general public and for primary care doctors," said Dr. William O'Neill, a professor of cardiology and executive dean of clinical affairs at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "Traditionally, most people just check blood pressure in one arm, but if there is a difference, then one of the arteries has disease in it," he said. The arteries that run under the collarbone can get blocked, ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease, Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Cardiovascular Risk Reduction
Regular Exercise Helps Keep Leg Arteries Clear
Posted 9 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Aug. 9 – People with low lifetime levels of physical activity are at increased risk for peripheral artery disease (PAD), a new study has found. People with PAD have narrowed leg arteries that reduce blood flow, which impairs the ability to walk. The researchers checked for PAD in 1,381 patients referred for a test called an elective coronary angiography. The arterial condition was detected in 258 (19 percent) of these patients. The investigators then looked at the lifetime recreational activity (LRA) of the participants. The assessment of LRA included vigorous activities such as jogging, moderate activities such as golf, and light activities such as strolling. PAD was nearly twice as common among the least active patients (25.6 percent) than among those who were physically active (13.7 percent). After factoring in other risk factors, the researchers determined that patients ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Millions Don't Get Meds for Serious Artery Disease: Study
Posted 21 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, June 20 – Millions of Americans suffer from a condition known as peripheral artery disease but aren't receiving medical treatment, putting them at risk of potentially fatal heart problems, a new study finds. Those who had the condition but didn't take medications were more likely to die of all causes during the period studied, although it's not clear how the disease specifically affected their health, the researchers noted. The findings, released online June 20 in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Circulation, reinforce the belief that peripheral artery disease, or PAD, is an early warning sign of possible clogged vessels elsewhere in the body, said study lead author Dr. Reena L. Pande, a cardiologist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. "We think of it as a manifestation of a whole-body problem," she said. "What happens in the legs ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
HRT May Reduce Risk of Peripheral Artery Disease
Posted 17 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, June 16 – The use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) appears to help protect postmenopausal women against the development of peripheral artery disease, new research indicates. The risk reduction for peripheral artery disease, or PAD, was found even though the group of women on HRT were more likely to have conditions such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the researchers reported. "We found that patients who had used HRT were about 20 percent less likely to have PAD," said study author Dr. Caron Rockman, an associate professor of surgery at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. She is slated to present the findings Thursday at the annual meeting of the Society of Vascular Surgery in Chicago. PAD is a narrowing of the peripheral arteries, usually those in the legs and pelvis. Most often, the symptoms are cramping, pain or tiredness in the leg or hip ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Health Tip: Risk Factors for Peripheral Artery Disease
Posted 3 May 2011 by Drugs.com
-- Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs when thick plaque accumulates in the arteries (most often in the legs) and restricts blood flow to the heart, brain, other organs and limbs. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute mentions these risk factors for PAD: Being a smoker. Being older. Having diabetes or a common precursor, metabolic syndrome. Having high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Having coronary heart disease. Having a family history of stroke. Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Leg Discomfort Might Signal Heart Trouble
Posted 18 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Feb. 18 – A disease the affects your legs could warn you about potential heart trouble, new research suggests. About 9 million Americans over the age of 50 have peripheral arterial disease (PAD), which puts them at increased risk for heart attack, according to the Vascular Disease Foundation and its PAD Coalition. But many people don't know they have the condition, the foundation says. PAD occurs when arteries in the legs become narrowed or clogged with fatty deposits. The reduced blood flow to the legs can cause muscle pain when walking, disability, amputation and poor quality of life. And if you have blocked arteries in your legs, you're likely to have blocked arteries elsewhere in your body, including your heart. Symptoms of PAD include: fatigue, heaviness, tiredness or cramping in the calf, thigh or buttock muscles that occurs during activity but goes away with rest; foot ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Peripheral Arterial Surgery Outcomes Worse for Women: Study
Posted 30 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Nov. 29 – Women have worse outcomes than men following surgery for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in their lower extremities, a new study has found. Researchers reviewed data from 372,692 hospital admissions for PAD surgery in lower extremities conducted from 1998 to 2007 in New Jersey, New York and Florida. Of those hospitalizations, 162,730 (43.6 percent) were women. The analysis showed that, following surgery, women were more likely than men to die (5.26 percent versus 4.21 percent). "The most pronounced difference was in cerebrovascular, where women had a 33 percent higher risk of [death] after adjustment for other relevant risk factors. In patients with underlying coronary artery disease, the risk in women was 21 percent higher," Dr. Ageliki G. Vouyouka, a vascular surgeon at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said in a Society for Vascular Surgery news release. Women were ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Stenting May Save Legs
Posted 16 Mar 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, March 16 – When angioplasty fails, patients with severe peripheral arterial disease may now have another option. A drug-releasing stent placed in the blocked artery below the knee might re-establish blood flow, new research shows. Critical limb ischemia, the most severe form of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), causes more than 100,000 leg amputations in the United States each year. Now, researchers from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City say insertion of a stent can prevent many of these amputations. "Traditional balloon angioplasty is plagued by high incidence failure, restenosis [recurrence] and inability to elevate the patient's symptoms," said lead researcher Dr. Robert A. Lookstein, associate director of Mount Sinai's division of interventional radiology. Patients with critical limb ischemia have leg pain even when resting and sores that don't heal because of ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Study Questions Value of Test for Peripheral Artery Disease
Posted 2 Mar 2010 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, March 1 – A new Scottish study raises questions about the value of both the ankle-brachial index, a test widely used to diagnose the risk of blood vessel problems in the legs, and the common practice of prescribing low-dose aspirin to reduce that risk. The ankle-brachial index (ABI) measures blood pressure in the arm and the ankle. Conventional wisdom is that a low ABI number is a sign of peripheral artery disease, a narrowing or blocking of arteries in the legs that can lead to clotting problems in the lower limbs, heart disease or stroke. Aspirin reduces the chances of such blood clots but can raise the risk of bleeding episodes. The Scottish study, which followed nearly 29,000 cardiovascular-healthy men and women aged 50 to 75 for nearly 10 years and assigned 3,350 to a test of aspirin therapy on the basis of ABI test results, found no decreased incidence of blood vessel ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Aspirin Lowers Stroke Risk in Peripheral Artery Disease
Posted 12 May 2009 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, May 12 – There haven't been enough studies to tell whether aspirin reduces the risk of heart attack and death for people with the blocked leg blood vessel condition called peripheral arterial disease, but it does cut the incidence of stroke, researchers report. The finding comes from a meta-analysis of the not-too-many studies of aspirin use with peripheral arterial disease (PAD); it appears in the May 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. It's not clear why PAD has been a neglected subject, said study co-author Dr. Mori J. Krantz, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado. "PAD is the unloved stepchild of atherosclerosis, in that it has been understudied." The degree of neglect was evident in numbers cited in the report. Studies of aspirin therapy in other kinds of atherosclerosis have been numerous. But the largest of the 18 ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
With Peripheral Artery Disease, Med Adherence Is Low
Posted 24 Apr 2009 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, April 24 – Less than half of those who have peripheral artery disease are taking the recommended combination of medications to control it, new research says. Researchers collected data on 711 people with peripheral artery disease who had vascular surgery at 11 hospitals in the Netherlands in 2004. Three years later, 465 of the surviving 552 patients answered a questionnaire about their medication use. About half were taking the guideline-recommended medical therapy, a combination of aspirin and statins in all patients and beta blockers in those who also had ischemic heart disease, said study author Dr. Don Poldermans, of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. Those who were taking the recommended medications had a better chance of being alive three years after their surgery, the study found. Researchers also found that after three years, aspirin was being taken by 74 percent, ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Study Questions Screening for Leg Vessel Blockages
Posted 16 Mar 2009 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, March 16 – Some people considered normal under current screening guidelines for peripheral artery disease (PAD) may be at high risk for loss of mobility, according to a U.S. study. Peripheral arterial disease, which involves narrowed vessels in the lower extremities, can sometimes lead to severe obstructions, known as critical limb ischemia (CLI), a condition in which decreased blood flow causes pain and skin ulcers. The new study found that people with borderline or low-normal ankle brachial index (ABI) – the ratio of systolic blood pressure at the ankle compared to that in the arm – have a twofold to threefold increased risk of physical disability. These ankle blood pressure readings are a common means of diagnosing PAD. Currently, an ABI value of 0.91 or greater is considered normal. But this study of 666 people found that people with ABI values between 0.90 and 1.09 had ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Drug-Eluting Stents Show Promise for Leg Arteries
Posted 10 Mar 2009 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, March 10 – Treating peripheral arterial disease with drug-eluting stents may save lives and limbs in people with severely obstructed arteries, Greek researchers have found. Peripheral arterial disease is common in the lower extremities and sometimes leads to severe obstructions, known as critical limb ischemia (CLI), a condition in which the decreased blood flow causes pain and skin ulcers. "CLI is today a major health problem, especially in Western societies, and is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates," said Dimitris Karnabatidis, the lead researcher and an assistant professor of interventional radiology at Patras University Hospital in Rion, Greece. "More specifically, an estimated 1 percent of the worldwide population over 50 years old suffers from CLI." Karnabatidis' study involved 103 people, three-fourths of them diabetics. A normal stent – a wire mesh ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Walking Is Good for Blocked Leg Arteries
Posted 13 Jan 2009 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Jan. 13 – Anyone looking for proof that a planned program of walking is good for people with the leg blood-vessel blockage called peripheral arterial disease (PAD) should check the results of a new U.S. government-funded study. The study of 156 people with PAD – many of whom didn't have the pain that is the classic symptom of artery blockage – showed that regular six-minute walks on a treadmill improved their endurance and quality of life. While walking is a standard recommendation for people with PAD, the study was different in two ways, said study lead author Dr. Mary M. McDermott, an associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. "All prior studies have focused on patients with intermittent claudicating – the symptom of PAD," McDermott said. "Some of the patients in this study were asymptomatic. Also, we included ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
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