The scary illness that can cause limb loss is more common than we thought

A new shocking study reveals that a condition that can lead to serious complications – such as limb amputation – is much more widespread and deadly than previously believed.

Researchers from Intermountain Health have found that the disease diagnosed and undertaken affects over 10 million Americans over 40, with a stunning rate of 50%mortality. ​

It is called peripheral artery disease (PAD) – a circulatory disorder in which arteries that supply blood to the limbs are narrowed or blocked by plaque construction, resulting in lowering blood flow.

This can cause symptoms such as cold feet, cramps and foot ulcers. While “the classic symptom of the pillow is the pain in the legs with physical activity, such as walking, which is best done after rest,” CDC notes that “up to four in 10 people with pillows have no leg pain.”

Pad leads to pain, wound and – in the most severe cases – limb loss.

There is no cure for peripheral artery disease, but lifestyle changes – such as walking or renouncing smoking – and medicines can reduce symptoms and slow down its progress.

While peripheral artery disease can occur with anyone, it is more common in Americans over 65 years old.

“In our study, we found a high degree of non -treatment of peripheral artery disease along with higher levels of mortality in these patients,” said lead author Viet T. Le, DMSC, an associate professor of cardiovascular research at Intermountain Health.

“Based on our findings, we think that health systems can do better work on examining patients for peripheral arterial disease and treating them. These findings present an opportunity to improve and implement care systems, especially for women.”

The researchers analyzed the data of 7,522 patients – 62% of whom were men and 38% of whom were women – who had a symptomatic diagnosis of peripheral artery disease.

Only 29.6 percent of women and 33.5 percent of men were discovered to have received proper care.

Women were less likely to suffer from a heart attack or limb amputation – but men and women had a 50% risk of death.

“Any person only in these groups must have at least received ant -plumbed therapy and statin. On the contrary, only about one in three made, which indicates the need to improve the methods to identify and treat suburban artery disease,” Le said.

Let not note that this may be due to the difficulty of identifying and treating pad against other types of heart disease – more than indifference.

However, their findings excel a focus on the need to take this silent killer seriously.

“We can certainly do a better examination of the peripheral arterial disease and treat it as its condition,” Le said.

“We should not see a 50% death rate among these patients. With the development and implementation of better disease control and treatment monitoring, we can increase proper treatment for these patients and lower levels of death.”

The findings were presented on March 30 at the Annual Conference of American College of Cardiology in Agoikago.