September is Peripheral Artery Disease Awareness Month, as I’m sure you have already noted on your calendar. But in case you haven’t yet made celebratory plans for the occasion, you should know that people with PAD are at greater risk for heart attack, stroke, or if not appropriately treated in time, even amputation of limbs.
Awareness, however, among both the general public and family physicians about diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this cardiovascular disease is extremely low. It’s therefore a good thing that September is finally here so we can address this.
Just like all cardiovascular disease, PAD appears to be under-recognized in women. Among family physicians surveyed in 2002, for example, nearly all guessed that men over the age of 65 are most susceptible to PAD. Most doctors excluded women as likely to have PAD at all. But women are equally at risk for developing this disease, and in fact may be more likely than men to have PAD without experiencing any symptoms; 50-90% of women are asymptomatic or have unrecognized symptoms of the disease, which could put them at greater risk of developing serious disease long before PAD is accurately diagnosed and appropriately treated.
Peripheral artery disease is relatively simple to diagnose. Get yourself tested if these factors are true for you: Find out about PAD symptoms and risk factors
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