September is National Peripheral Artery Disease Awareness Month

September is National Peripheral Artery Disease Awareness Month. At RIA Endovascular, we take care of PAD all year long, but this month especially, we’ll be focusing on PAD so you know what to look for and how we can work together to take care of it.

How common is PAD?

PAD affects approximately 12 percent of the U.S. population, or approximately 8 million to 12 million Americans. The prevalence of the disease increases with age. As the population ages, the prevalence may reach somewhere between 9.6 million and 16 million in those age 65 and older. PAD affects men and women equally. Studies suggest a disproportionately higher prevalence of PAD among African Americans compared with non-Hispanic whites.

What are the symptoms of PAD?

The most common symptom of PAD is a painful muscle cramping in the hips, thighs or calves when walking, climbing stairs or exercising. The pain of PAD usually goes away when you stop exercising, although this may take a few minutes. Working muscles need more blood flow. Resting muscles can get by with less blood flow. If there’s a blood-flow blockage due to plaque buildup, the muscles won’t get enough blood during exercise to meet their needs. This crampy pain (called intermittent claudication), when caused by PAD, is the muscles’ way of warning the body that it is not receiving enough blood during exercise to meet the increased demand. Many people with PAD have no symptoms or mistake their symptoms for something else.

Learn all about PAD and how we can help here: https://www.riaendovascular.com/services/peripheral-artery-disease/