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Health Matters: Providence San Fernando Valley | 3 How Blocked Arteries Affect Your Health Know whether you're at risk for peripheral artery disease, what the symptoms are and how to treat it before it affects your heart and brain. A therosclerosis, also known as arteriosclerosis, is a vascular disease that causes arteries to thicken and harden due to plaque buildup, a serious condition that can result in a heart attack, stroke and even leg amputation. Similar to having rusty pipes in your home, it affects all the pipes in your body, but to different degrees. The risk factors for atherosclerosis are: • Smoking • Diabetes • High blood pressure • Hyperlipidemia, or high levels of fat particles in the blood • High cholesterol • Genetic factors • Eating habits • Lack of exercise When plaque buildup occurs in the arteries of the legs, it is called peripheral artery disease (PAD). How do you know if you have it? It presents itself in a variety of ways and can be totally asymptomatic or include symptoms such as: • Claudication, or leg cramps and pain when walking that are relieved by rest • Leg or foot pain at rest • Foot and toe ulcers • Gangrene "Peripheral artery disease is definitely a marker of coronary artery disease and carotid disease," says Zahi Nassoura, MD, vascular surgeon at Providence Cedars- Sinai Tarzana Medical Center. "It can be diagnosed by a simple Doppler study of the arteries of the lower extremities. A positive test result, even if the patient is totally asymptomatic, should trigger evaluation of the heart (coronary arteries) and carotid arteries." The treatment for PAD includes smoking cessation; control of diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol; improving eating habits; and exercise. Surgical intervention for PAD is usually reserved for symptomatic patients. Dr. Zahi Nassoura

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