Learn about the symptoms and risks
Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). PAD is a disease that affects over 8 million Americans. 1 out of every 20 people over the age of 50 is affected by PAD. Many patients have no symptoms or are not receiving treatment. Patients suffering from PAD often experience pain in their legs while walking or at rest because of plaque buildup in the arteries. Excessive plaque buildup causes the arteries to narrow and to harden. This is why people sometimes refer to PAD as "hardening of the arteries" or "poor circulation." Although PAD is most prevalent in lower extremities, it can also affect arteries outside and inside of the heart causing coronary artery disease.

Symptoms of PAD include pain or cramps in the legs or thighs while walking, toe or foot pain while sleeping, and ulcers or wounds that are slow to heal or that do not heal at all. If you experience discomfort while walking, take note of how long you can walk (use city blocks to approximate the distance) before you feel the pain and how long you must rest before the pain goes away. See your doctor and tell him your findings. Based on this information, the physician may order a test called the Ankle Brachial Index (ABI).

ABI is a quick and painless exam that uses pressure cuffs to measure blood flow through the arteries and record wave forms. ABIs should only be performed by registered vascular sonographers (RVS or RVT), accredited laboratories, or physicians who have been properly trained to perform vascular studies. Lucid performs hundreds of ABIs annually for patients who show symptoms of PAD. ABI results should only be interpreted by properly trained physicians. If the ABI results are abnormal, your physician may order other tests to interrogate the state of the disease further. Lucid sonographers are capable of performing single level ABIs, multiple level segmental pressures, and arterial duplex which uses ultrasound waves to create images of patients' arteries and of plaque that may have built up in the arteries.

Because PAD is a disease that evolves over many years, most patients have no symptoms at all during the early stages. DO NOT ignore any leg pain and do not associate leg pain with a sign of aging. See your physician to discuss any leg or thigh pain immediately.

The risk of developing PAD increase if you:
- are or were a smoker
- are a diabetic
- have high blood pressure
- have elevated cholesterol levels
- have heart disease, had a heart attack or stroke
- are of African American ethnicity

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