Silent Epidemic Needlessly Costing Life and Limb

Everyone knows of the condition Cardiovascular Disease, also known as Heart Disease, which is plaque build-up in the arteries around the heart. In the legs, plaque build-up in the arteries is known as Peripheral Artery Disease (P.A.D.). It can also impact the arms and sometimes the small arteries in the brain. But it’s mainly the legs.

Three-in-five heart attack sufferers, one-five over age 60, and one-three diabetics over age 50 have it. Globally, it is estimated that over 200 million people have P.A.D. Most don’t know it until it reaches advanced stages and heart attack, stroke, and amputation are imminent.

Doctors may misdiagnose textbook symptoms of leg pain and leg cramps as diabetic neuropathy, diabetic foot, fibromyalgia, old age, arthritis, or even spinal/sciatic problems. But it’s easy to diagnose or rule out with even two fingers and two seconds with a doctor feeling a patient’s leg pulses.

Douglas, a P.A.D. patient from Texas, calls in to ask about walking as medicine for P.A.D. A brisk 30-minute walk a few times a week can help your body create a ‘natural bypass’ around blockages by triggering the body’s collateral network of vessels.

Pushing through some of the pain and cramping caused by that restricted blood flow tells your body, “Hey, we have a demand for additional blood flow that we aren’t meeting, so let’s call in for some back-up!”

The back is our collateral network of vessels that lay dormant until they’re needed to re-route flow around blockages to feed oxygen and other nutrients to the lower extremities. Dr. John Phillips, co-host of The Heart of Innovation, explains to Douglas how to walk effectively to kick that collateral network into gear to improve circulation naturally.