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Drug May Make Walking Easier for People With Artery Disease
Posted 5 Feb 2013 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 5 – The blood pressure drug ramipril may make walking a bit easier for people with clogged leg arteries, new study results suggest. Researchers found that of 212 people with peripheral artery disease (PAD), those given ramipril every day for nearly six months were faring better on their feet than those on inactive placebo pills. On average, they could walk on a treadmill 4 minutes longer, and got an extra 75 seconds of pain-free walking. That might not sound like a big difference. But it beats the benefits of the two drugs approved in the United States for improving PAD patients' ability to walk, according to Dr. Mary McGrae McDermott, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. It's also similar to the effects of supervised exercise therapy – another standard PAD treatment, said McDermott, who wrote an editorial published ... Read more
Related support groups: Ramipril, Altace, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Trental, Pletal, Cilostazol, Pentoxifylline, Pentoxil
Lifestyle Affects Outcome of Peripheral Artery Procedure: Study
Posted 26 Dec 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 26 – Patients with blocked leg arteries are less likely to suffer complications after a procedure to open their arteries if they quit smoking and take aspirin and cholesterol-lowering statins, a new study indicates. However, too few patients take such steps to relieve leg pain and cramping associated with peripheral artery disease, also known as PAD, according to the researchers. The new study of more than 1,300 patients found that only about 47 percent of them did not smoke and were taking aspirin and a statin – drugs that can reduce blood clots and improve blood flow – when they were admitted to hospital for a peripheral vascular intervention, such as angioplasty, which is performed to open blocked leg arteries and improve blood flow. When they were discharged from hospital, 71 percent of the patients were taking aspirin and a statin and either did not smoke or ... Read more
Related support groups: Aspirin, Lipitor, Simvastatin, Crestor, Pravastatin, Zocor, Lovastatin, Atorvastatin, Ecotrin, Rosuvastatin, Livalo, Pravachol, Red Yeast Rice, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Bayer Aspirin, Lescol, Bufferin, Lescol XL, Low Dose ASA, Fluvastatin
Drug-Eluting Stent Approved for Peripheral Arterial Disease
Posted 15 Nov 2012 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Nov. 15 – The Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat peripheral arterial disease of a particular artery in the thigh. An arterial stent is a hollow mesh tube that's used to prop open an artery that's narrowed or clogged. This stent is coated with a drug that helps prevent the artery from narrowing again. Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) occurs when fatty material called plaque builds up on the artery wall, affecting oxygenated blood flow to the body. Symptoms could include leg pain, skin ulcers or gangrene, the FDA said in a news release. The safety and effectiveness of the stent were evaluated in a clinical study of 479 people. After one year, 83 percent of narrowed arteries treated with the new stent were still open, compared with 33 percent in a control group, the FDA said. The most common adverse ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Chemical in Household Products May Be Linked to Heart Disease: Study
Posted 4 Sep 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Sept. 4 – Exposure to a chemical used in some common household products may be associated with heart troubles and peripheral artery disease, a new study suggests. The chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) – which is widely used to make products such as food packaging, paper and textile coatings, polishes and lubricants – is detectable in the blood of more than 98 percent of people in the United States, according to previous research. In this study, a team at the West Virginia University School of Public Health looked at data from more than 1,200 people and found that increasing blood levels of PFOA were associated with the presence of heart and artery disease. This association appeared to be independent of other disease risk factors such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, smoking, body-mass index, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The study was published ... Read more
Related support groups: Heart Disease, Peripheral Arterial Disease
Angioplasty May Be Risky for Those With Poor Leg Circulation
Posted 9 May 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, May 9 – People with peripheral artery disease have an increased short- and long-term risk of death after undergoing a procedure to open clogged heart arteries, a new study finds. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a build-up of plaque in the blood vessels of the legs and organs of the body. These cholesterol blockages can interfere with blood flow and cause pain and cramping in the legs, sores that don't heal properly, abdominal pain, high blood pressure and other health problems. For the study, researchers looked at data from nearly 2,500 heart disease patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (which includes both angioplasty and stenting) to open clogged heart arteries. Of those patients, 7 percent also had peripheral artery disease. The death rate while patients were in hospital immediately after the procedure was much higher for those with peripheral ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Depression Linked to Higher Odds for Poor Leg Circulation
Posted 20 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, April 20 – Depressed people may be at higher risk for the debilitating circulatory condition known as peripheral artery disease (PAD), a new study suggests. PAD is due to a narrowing of the arteries in the legs and pelvis. It was known that depression is a risk factor for the constriction of heart arteries, but its link with PAD specifically was unclear. In this study, researchers led by Marlene Grenon of the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center examined data on more than a thousand men and women who were followed for about seven years. At the start of the study, PAD was present in 12 percent of the participants with depression and in 7 percent of those without depression. During the seven-year follow-up, PAD-related events occurred in 9 percent of participants with depression and in 6 percent of those without depression, the researchers said. One expert ... Read more
Related support groups: Depression, Peripheral Arterial Disease
Dissolvable Heart Artery Stents Appear Safe in Study
Posted 16 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 16 – New long-term research now suggests that fully biodegradable stents are safe to use in heart arteries. Reporting in the April 16 issue of Circulation, Japanese researchers said a 10-year study has shown the biodegradable Igaki-Tamai stent, made of a cornstarch-based material, dissolves into the artery wall, leaving no permanent foreign material in an artery and reducing the occurrence of an in-stent blood clot. According to the study, survival rates from all causes was 87 percent and rates of major heart-related complications were similar to those seen with metal stents. Stents, the tiny mesh tubes inserted into heart arteries to keep open and allow blood to flow to the heart, are far from fail-safe. New blockages can – and do – occur. So scientists have been trying to develop new stents, including ones coated with blood-thinning medications. Metal stents, ... Read more
Related support groups: Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), Peripheral Arterial Disease
Aspirin as Good as Plavix for Poor Leg Circulation: Study
Posted 21 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 21 – Aspirin works as well as Plavix in patients with blocked leg arteries, a new European study finds. People with the condition, called peripheral artery disease, often suffer from intermittent claudication, which is pain while walking because of decreased blood supply to the legs. Animal experiments had suggested that aspirin might block the growth of blood vessels that bypass blockages and help get more blood to leg tissue, the Swiss and German researchers said. "Once again, we have shown that what happens in animals doesn't translate to humans," said Dr. Juan Zambrano, an assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine, coronary/endovascular and stem cell therapies at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Patients suffering from peripheral artery disease are also at increased risk of heart attack and stroke from blood clots traveling from the legs to the ... Read more
Related support groups: Aspirin, Plavix, Clopidogrel, Ecotrin, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Bayer Aspirin, Intermittent Claudication, Bufferin, Low Dose ASA, Ascriptin Enteric, Easprin, ZORprin, Aspergum, St Joseph Aspirin, Buffered Aspirin, Aspiritab, Entercote, Therapy Bayer, Acetylsalicylic Acid, Bufferin Extra Strength
Circulatory Disorder Not Studied Enough in Women, Experts Say
Posted 15 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 15 – Even though it increases the risk of heart attack or stroke, peripheral artery disease is often unrecognized and untreated in women, according to an American Heart Association scientific statement released Wednesday. Peripheral artery disease is a circulatory disorder caused by a buildup of fat and other materials in the blood vessels outside the heart, usually in the legs, feet and arms. If untreated, it can increase heart attack and stroke risk, severely limit walking ability, and cause tissue death that leads to limb amputation. Because women with peripheral artery disease have a twofold to threefold increased risk of stroke or heart attack, health care providers should educate and test women at risk for peripheral artery disease, the statement advised. It also called for more female-focused research into the disease. There are too few women enrolled in studies ... Read more
Related support groups: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Blood Pressure Differences Between Arms Could Signal Heart Risk
Posted 30 Jan 2012 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: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Peripheral Arterial 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
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Raynaud's Syndrome, Intermittent Claudication, Arterial Thrombosis, Erythromelalgia, Thromboangiitis Obliterans, Peripheral Arteriography, Cardiovascular Conditions and Disorders