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You may have been tempted to think, “Oh man, this must be what getting old feels like. I hate it, but I guess I’d better get used to it. After all, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

There IS something you can do about leg pain – find out what’s causing it

The best heart doctors in Arizona want you to know that these symptoms – and others, such as discoloration of the skin and sores on your legs and feet that don’t seem to heal – may NOT just be a “sign of aging.” They might be a sign that you have a disease that affects nearly 1 in 3 people your age: peripheral arterial disease, or PAD.

PAD is caused by the buildup of a sticky substance called plaque on the interior walls of your arteries. The official term for this plaque buildup is atherosclerosis, but you may have heard it called “hardening of the arteries.” And it’s a serious condition, not just a “sign of aging.” If peripheral arterial disease is left undiagnosed and untreated, it could increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, and even death.

So here’s the good news – diagnosing PAD is easy and painless

At Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers, we start with a physical examination. We look for weak pulses in your extremities or differences in your blood pressure when measured at your arm and at your ankle. If these tests indicate possible PAD, we perform a painless, non-invasive ultrasound arterial exam. This test looks beneath the surface of the skin and analyzes the blood flow visually. We can pinpoint the location and severity of any blockages.

If a diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease is still not clear, the interventional radiology specialists at CiC can actually look inside your arteries. We do this by means of a non-surgical, minimally invasive procedure called an angiogram.

More good news – if you do have PAD, it can be treated almost as easily

We try to treat minor cases of PAD with medication and lifestyle changes such as exercise, weight loss, and smoking cessation. Some people have a more advanced case of PAD, in which the blockages are becoming dangerous to their overall health. The best interventional cardiologists near you can use minimally invasive procedures such as angioplasty, atherectomy, or stent placement to clear the blockages from your arteries and restore proper blood flow.

But the first step is still to get a checkup, so call today!

The diagnostic procedures we’ve described above are fast, painless, and can be performed in the comfort of our CiC offices. So don’t put off getting a full vascular health checkup because you think your leg pain is due to aging. You just have to “live with it.” If it’s caused by peripheral arterial disease, you really don’t.

The post Best Heart Doctors in Arizona: I Think I Have Peripheral Arterial Disease appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

At Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers, we’re widely regarded as the best peripheral arterial disease specialists in Phoenix. We specialize in some of the most advanced, state-of-the-art interventional radiology procedures in the medical field. But interestingly enough, we usually don’t START our treatment of PAD with these procedures.

Instead, we often start our treatment regimen by recommending an approach that focuses on reducing the symptoms of PAD and keeping them from becoming worse – peripheral arterial disease natural treatment. We work with our patients to help them overcome habit patterns that not only helped to cause their peripheral arterial disease in the first place, but are helping to perpetuate it and make it worse. In many cases, this natural treatment can enable patients to reduce or eliminate their PAD symptoms, without the need for further treatment.

What is peripheral arterial disease natural treatment?

First, don’t be put off by the term “natural.” The conservative treatments we recommend don’t require you to search for herbs with strange-sounding names or drink teas made out of things you can’t identify. They’re simple, common-sense, science-backed recommendations that can reduce the risk factors that cause PAD instead of increasing them.

Some of the risk factors that lead to peripheral artery disease are things you can’t do anything about. For example, your age, and whether you have a personal or family history of cardiovascular disease. But other factors that cause PAD or make it worse ARE in your control, and you can eliminate them by making better lifestyle choices.

Examples of natural lifestyle modifications that can help to treat your PAD

• Quit smoking. If you still smoke cigarettes, STOP. Today. Continuing to smoke will not only make your PAD worse, it will harm your body in many other ways as well.
• Watch your diet. If you’re overweight, that’s a major risk factor for PAD, so talk to your doctors about ways to lose weight. They can also help you to find diet plans that include lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, while cutting back on salt, sugar, alcohol, and saturated fats.
• Watch your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. High levels of all of three of these not only increase your risk of getting PAD, they contribute to making it worse. Follow your doctors’ instructions and take the medications they have prescribed to keep your blood pressure and cholesterol levels low. If you have diabetes, keep your blood sugar levels under control, because high blood sugar can make PAD
• Get more exercise. Yes, we know that the leg pain you experience as a result of your PAD makes it harder to But one of the best natural treatments for PAD is to exercise anyway. Start with walking – short distances at first, but increasing over time.
• Consider supervised exercise. Research has shown that one of the most effective natural ways to treat PAD is with a structured program of exercise. These supervised exercise programs are offered at many community centers or hospitals, and focus on helping you to gradually increase the time and distance you can comfortably walk on a treadmill or cycle on a stationary bike. The cost of these supervised exercise programs is usually covered by medical insurance.
• Take care of your feet and legs. Wash your feet and toes daily, and check them for any sores, bumps, or discolorations. Wear good shoes and visit your podiatrist regularly, to make sure that PAD is not causing foot problems that could become dangerous.

See? Most of these “natural treatment” suggestions are simple lifestyle changes that are under your control. But they’ll really help to keep your symptoms under control. If you’d like even more lifestyle suggestions that can help, or to have us develop a natural treatment regimen that is personalized for you, give our friendly and skilled team a call at 888-377-7122 or schedule an appointment online on our website. You’ll be glad you did!

The post How Changing Lifestyle Habits Is an Effective Peripheral Arterial Disease Natural Treatment appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

The post What Kind of Doctor Treats Peripheral Arterial Disease in Phoenix (PAD)?* appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

We do understand the confusion. These two terms sound similar, as if they’re describing the same disease or medical condition. It’s easy to mistake one term for the other, and use them as if they mean exactly the same thing.

In this article we’ll explain what these two terms really mean, and what makes them different from one another. We do this because we’ve noticed that NOT knowing the difference can cause people problems when they start looking things up on the Internet, or searching for the right type of doctor to treat their circulatory problems.

The difference between peripheral artery disease and peripheral vascular disease – the short, sweet explanation

It’s pretty simple, actually:

• Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is the name of one specific disease, a condition that affects only arteries, and primarily the arteries of the legs.
• Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is a generic “umbrella term” that describes a large number of circulatory diseases. These diseases affect not only arteries but also veins and lymphatic vessels. They can also appear in locations other than the legs, including the arms, neck, and face.

What is peripheral artery disease (PAD) – the slightly longer explanation

PAD (the specific disease) is caused by the buildup of a fatty, sticky substance called plaque on the inner surfaces of the arteries leading to your legs. This condition is known as atherosclerosis, but you may have also heard it referred to as “hardening of the arteries.”

No matter what you call it, it’s dangerous. The narrowing of the arteries restricts the amount of blood flowing to the legs, feet, and toes. Your lower extremities can’t get the oxygen and nutrients they need to stay healthy. So they begin to fail, in many ways. Common symptoms of PAD include leg pain, sores and wounds that won’t heal, and loss of mobility. Extreme symptoms of PAD include tissue death (gangrene), which can lead to amputation.

What is peripheral vascular disease (PVD) – the much longer explanation

As noted above, PVD refers to a number of different conditions. Some of them also affect arteries. Blockage to the coronary arteries feeding the heart, for example, can cause angina or a heart attack. Blockage in arteries feeding the kidneys can cause high blood pressure and heart failure. If arteries leading to the brain become blocked, the result can be a stroke or transient ischemic attack.

It’s important to remember, however, that peripheral vascular disease is a “group term,” and also involves diseases that affect the veins. The most common of these vein diseases is venous insufficiency, which can lead to varicose veins, in which the affected veins become swollen and discolored. More serious vein diseases can be caused by thrombosis, which is the formation of blood clots. These clots impair proper blood flow, just as atherosclerosis does, but they are in many ways more dangerous because they may not stay where they formed. With deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the clots can break off from where they started and travel to the lungs. This can lead to a pulmonary embolism, which can be fatal.

There are many other types of circulatory disease contained under the PVD “umbrella.” Aneurysms are bulges that form in the walls of blood vessels, and that can become dangerous. Lymphedema is a condition that blocks the lymph vessels and keeps them from draining fluid from tissues and supplying them with immune cells.

Why it’s important to know the difference between PAD and PVD

The difference between these two terms starts to affect you personally when you go to the Internet to look up information about them, or seek doctors who can treat them. What you’ll find is that many websites aren’t careful about making a distinction between PAD (the disease) and PVD (a whole range of diseases).

This can lead to confusion. If you have been diagnosed with PAD (the specific disease) for example, and go to Google looking for the best doctors who treat it in your area, it’s not going to help to be referred to doctors who may treat PVD (the larger group of diseases), but who may have little expertise in treating peripheral artery disease per se.

At Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers, we are famous for providing the best peripheral arterial disease treatment in Arizona. Some of our doctors also treat vein diseases and other forms of peripheral vascular disease. But if you’re looking for someone who really knows PAD and specializes in treating it, that’s us. Give us a call at 888-377-7122 and make an appointment to speak with our talented team of PAD experts.

The post Peripheral Artery Disease Vs. Peripheral Vascular Disease: What’s the Difference? appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

Fortunately, advances in cardiovascular medicine in recent years have made it easier for doctors to detect PAD in its early stages. If you have diabetes or even just symptoms of PAD, a PAD specialists can use advanced diagnostic tools such as Doppler ultrasound to detect the disease and its stage of progression.

In mild cases of PAD, the narrowing of arteries is caused by a buildup of arterial plaque has not completely blocked blood flow. Early detection means that many cases can be treated with lifestyle changes and with medication.

This does not mean, however, that these mild cases of PAD are not still serious. They are. The plaque is still there, still impairing the normal flow of blood. This means that people with PAD are more at risk of developing other serious health problems.

PAD increases your risk of other cardiovascular problems

Peripheral arterial disease causes diminished blood flow through your arteries. However, the problems with your circulatory system don’t stop there. PAD affects your veins, heart, too, and increases your risk of:

• Atherosclerosis – more buildup of arterial plaque, leading to full blockage.
• Heart attack – in which diminished blood flow causes permanent damage to the heart muscle over time.
• Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) – interruptions to the blood flow to the brain.

PAD is most dangerous for patients who also have diabetes

People with diabetes have a much higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, which is caused by a buildup of plaque in the arteries. The combination of PAD and diabetes is particularly problematic. The plaque deposits most often block arteries to the legs and feet. This can lead to pain, especially when walking, and to other symptoms.

For example, PAD can lead to the development of corns, callouses, or open sores on the legs and feet that are slow to heal. If you have diabetes and notice such sores, you should not try to treat them yourself. Instead, you should see your doctor or podiatrist and follow their advice. If left untreated, these sores can fester and develop gangrene. Gangrene sometimes leads to amputation of the affected limb.

At CICC, we are experts in treating Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)

We specialize in a non-surgical procedure called atherectomy. This procedure can remove the buildups of plaque and calcium that block your arteries. The procedure is so safe and painless that it can be performed in our offices. There is no need for hospitals or general anesthesia. Removing the blockages can help to remove the ongoing danger that PAD poses to your overall health.

To learn more about living with peripheral artery disease and diabetes, please call Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers at 888-377-7122 or visit us on line at www.ciccenters.com to find a specialist near you. We’d love to help you find out what you can do to reduce the impact of PAD on your overall health.

The post CiC Interventional Radiologists Explain How PAD Can Affect Diabetes and Other Conditions appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

We have to qualify this answer because the question is misleading. PAD is not likely to ever appear on a person’s death certificate as the cause of death. But that doesn’t mean that it didn’t contribute to that death.

Just as it is important to pay attention to warning signs on the road when you are traveling, it’s important to pay attention to warning signs that might indicate you have peripheral artery disease.

PAD is a warning sign that you have a high risk of death from related causes

Peripheral arterial disease occurs when a sticky substance called plaque builds up on the walls of your arteries. This buildup, called atherosclerosis, narrows the arteries and makes it harder for your heart to pump blood through them to your legs and feet. Without proper blood flow, your lower limbs can quickly become damaged. Poor circulation due to PAD leads to foot and leg pain (claudication), or wounds and open sores that refuse to heal. This is because they’re not getting the oxygen and nutrients they need to heal.

But that’s just the first warning sign of a much more serious condition, called critical limb ischemia. The tissues can become so damaged that they develop gangrene. This is a type of tissue death that causes the skin to become reddened or black, and can lead to amputation. It can also cause osteomyelitis (bone infection) or sepsis (a form of infection in which the body starts attacking its own tissues and organs). Both conditions are life-threatening, and yes, can result in death.

PAD in the legs can also indicate dangerous blockages in other arteries

Peripheral artery disease in the lower body is often a warning sign. There can be a similar buildup of plaque in other arteries, such as the ones that supply the heart or the brain. If these arteries become blocked, the result can be a heart attack or a stroke.

Some studies suggest that 60% of patients with peripheral artery disease will develop ischemic heart disease, and that 30% have cerebrovascular disease. As many as 10-15% of patients with intermittent claudication (leg pain) from PAD will die from cardiovascular disease within five years of their initial diagnosis.

Other studies have shown that among patients diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease, 10% suffered a subsequent stroke, and another 10% suffered a subsequent heart attack. Patients who had other related diseases (such as diabetes) were at the highest risk of death.

The Bottom Line

The “bad news” is that peripheral arterial disease IS dangerous. It can even be potentially life-threatening. Especially if it is not diagnosed and treated early.

The “good news” is that PAD can be diagnosed quickly, easily, and painlessly. And if it’s present, it can be treated effectively to lower your risk of more serious symptoms or death. Less severe cases of PAD often respond to natural treatment. This involves changes to your diet, exercise patterns, and lifestyle choices (such as quitting smoking). More severe cases can be treated using minimally-invasive interventional radiology procedures such as angioplasty, stent placement, or atherectomy.

At Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers, we screen all of our patients for these more serious problems when we see that they have PAD in the legs. We then use our expertise as the best interventional radiology specialists in Phoenix to eliminate the problems, and make sure they don’t become life-threatening. So if you’ve been diagnosed with PAD – or even suspect that you may have it – give us a call at 888-377-7122 or make an appointment online on our website. We’re happy to help.

The post Can a Person Die from Peripheral Artery Disease? appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

In this article, the specialists from Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers address these questions, and give you the straight answers you’re looking for.

To answer the first question, PAD is a very serious condition, one that requires treatment. That’s the bad news. The good news, however, is that with early diagnosis and assessment, peripheral arterial disease can be successfully treated. Its symptoms can be managed and even reversed, and you can enjoy a long, active life free from symptoms such as constant leg pain.

First step – get an assessment from peripheral arterial disease specialists

The first thing you should do is to schedule an examination and assessment of your condition with doctors who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of PAD. Your family doctor may have noted your symptoms and made some tests, and suggested on the basis of them that you have peripheral artery disease. But you need to know more than that before you decide on the best treatment.

Peripheral arterial disease specialists such as the doctors at CiC can perform more extensive tests to determine first whether you really have PAD, and second, how serious your condition is if you do. Our specialists use sophisticated diagnostic equipment such as Doppler ultrasound to determine whether there is a buildup of plaque in your arteries that is blocking them. If necessary, we can use more extensive tests such as angiography to pinpoint the exact location of these blockages, and determine how much of a danger they pose to you.

This information allows us to make accurate assessments of the extent of your disease, and decide whether it should be treated conservatively, or more aggressively. Possible treatment options can include:

Conservative or natural treatment

For mild cases of PAD, the first line of defense is natural treatment. This option focuses on helping you to modify your lifestyle to reduce the risk factors that cause atherosclerosis (the buildup of plaque that causes PAD). This form of treatment may include recommendations for dietary changes, weight loss, smoking cessation, walking or exercise programs, and advice on proper foot care. We wrote about these natural treatment options in more depth in two recent articles:

• “How Changing Lifestyle Habits Is an Effective Peripheral Arterial Disease Natural Treatment”
• “Is Peripheral Arterial Disease Natural Treatment an Option for Me?”

Click the links if you’d like to read more about these options.

Medical Management

Sometimes our examination of your condition shows you have certain critical risk factors that cause PAD and contribute to making it worse. If this is true, we may supplement the conservative treatments discussed above by prescribing medications such as:

• Cholesterol-lowering drugs (statin medications) to reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.
• High blood pressure medications. If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may prescribe medications to lower it.
• Medications to control blood sugar. This is even more important if you have diabetes in addition to PAD.
• Medications to prevent blood clots and improve blood flow.
• Symptom-relief medications such as cilostazol to increase blood flow to the limbs and alleviate leg pain so you can walk more easily.

Interventional Management

Sometimes, peripheral artery disease requires more than lifestyle changes and medications to control it. If your symptoms do not respond to conservative treatment, your doctors may recommend more aggressive treatment options.

At Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers, these advanced treatments are reserved for patients whose symptoms are severe, or who are at high risk of serious problems such as gangrene or the loss of organ function. To reduce these risks, our Interventional Radiology Endovascular Specialists use procedures that are nonsurgical and minimally invasive. They include techniques such as catheterization, balloon angioplasty, stent placement, and atherectomy to open blocked arteries and restore proper blood flow.

In some cases, patients who have or are in danger of developing life-threatening conditions such as critical ischemia may be referred for a procedure called bypass grafting. In this procedure, the specialist uses a blood vessel from another part of the body or a synthetic tube to bypass (go around) a seriously blocked artery. These procedures don’t cure PAD per se, but they are sometimes required.

The decision as to which treatment option is best made by you, working in conjunction with peripheral arterial disease specialists

At CiC, we will present to you the best possible treatment options for your PAD, based on our many years of experience. If conservative or natural treatment is appropriate for your case, we’ll recommend it, and supplement it if necessary with specific medications. If we find that your symptoms or the rate at which your disease is progressing are more serious, we’ll present more interventional options for your consideration. Our goal is always to find the treatment that is best suited to each patient.

So give us a call at 888-377-7122 and get the evaluation process started. The sooner you start treating PAD, the sooner you can become free of its symptoms.

The post Your Options in Peripheral Arterial Disease Treatment appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

Peripheral vascular disease is a broad term that refers to disease in your veins, arteries and lymphatic vessels in your arms and legs. Typically, PVD mostly affects your legs. Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD), a form of PVD, refers specifically to the type of PVD that is caused by the buildup of fatty material inside the arteries. This build-up occurs gradually over time and hardens into plaque inside the artery, this condition is known as atherosclerosis. Sometimes, it’s called “hardening of the arteries”. No matter what you call it, this plaque causes a narrowing of the passageway, restricting the amount of blood that flows throughout the body. It most often occurs in the lower legs, feet and toes. Without an adequate blood supply, your body can’t get the oxygen and nutrients it needs to maintain healthy legs, feet and/or toes.

Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) refers specifically to disease of the veins and is generally caused by heredity, weight gain, pregnancy, hormone changes or sedentary lifestyle. It refers to the body’s ability to return blood back to the heart during circulation; what often happens is the body sends the necessary blood supply to the extremities but can’t return the blood back into the body’s circulation. CVI can result in the development of bulging vein problems, chronic venous ulcers (wounds that have a difficult time healing or won’t heal) , spontaneous rupture of varicose veins (which creates a bruise or an opening that won’t stop bleeding) , spider veins, leg swelling and inflammatory/chronic skin changes including darkening of the skin around the lower leg, ankles and feet.

Whatever type of PVD you have, whether it’s venous or arterial, the primary goal is to treat the condition before you experience damage to the vascular system that cannot be repaired. Symptoms from either PAD or CVI are a warning that there is a medical condition that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Both forms of the disease worsen over time unless you do something about it. Fortunately, significant lifestyle changes, proper treatment, or a combination of the two, are usually quite successful.

Signs You Need Treatment for Peripheral Vascular Disease

People living with PVD often don’t realize how much the disease affects their daily activities and quality of life. You don’t want to dismiss the symptoms of PVD as signs of aging. It’s important to pay attention to the subtle signs of this condition. Most people experience the feeling of dull, cramping pain while others may experience a heaviness or tightness in their leg muscles and general leg fatigue.

Although symptoms related to PVD are not usually life threatening, they can contribute to a sedentary lifestyle. This may cause weight gain and in extreme cases may require surgical intervention or lead to loss of limb. Without appropriate treatment, symptoms and the disease can worsen and lead to serious conditions like critical limb ischemia and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This puts you at higher risk for stroke and pulmonary embolism. Getting an accurate diagnosis and a proper treatment plan is critical.

What Kind of Doctor Treats Peripheral Vascular Disease?

Interventional radiologists and interventional cardiologists are specially trained to diagnose and treat PVD. Our team at CiC uses image-guided techniques to make a proper diagnosis based on your unique symptoms. From that diagnosis, they treat your condition with minimally-invasive or non-invasive procedures. What does this mean to you? It means less risk, less pain, less recovery time and better health outcomes as compared to traditional surgery. You don’t have to live with symptoms related to PVD.

Our CiC team includes venous specialists Dr. Karen Garby and Dr. James McEown, along with arterial specialists Dr. David Lopresti and Dr. David Switzer. To learn more about venous or arterial treatment call Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers at 888-377-7122 or visit us on line at www.ciccenters.com to find a specialist near you. We offer leading edge prevention, diagnosis and intervention for varicose vein treatment and peripheral arterial disease.

The post What is Peripheral Vascular Disease? appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

Peripheral Arterial Disease

What are the symptoms and causes of PAD?

Phoenix cardiologists describe the common symptoms of PAD: 

• Pain or cramping in the legs after walking or climbing stairs
• Numbness or weakness in the legs
• Coldness in the legs, feet, or toes
• Sores or color changes on the legs
• Hair loss or shiny skin developing on your legs and feet
• Weaker leg pulse
• Erectile dysfunction in men.

However, you can have PAD and display none of these symptoms.

The primary cause of PAD is atherosclerosis, or the buildup of fatty plaque on the interior walls of the arteries. Significant risk factors for PAD include smoking (which increases your risk 2-4 times), diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure (over 140/90), aging, and a family history of heart disease or stroke. PAD is a serious disease. Left untreated it can cause critical limb ischemia (open sores that don’t heal, sometimes developing into gangrene and requiring amputation), stroke, and heart attacks.

How do I know if I have Peripheral Arterial Disease? How is it diagnosed?

PAD can be detected by your peripheral arterial disease specialist as the result of a physical examination in which weak or absent pulses are found in your extremities, and also using the ankle-brachial index, a specialized blood pressure test in which blood pressure in your arm is compared to blood pressure in your ankle. The doctor may also use other non-invasive procedures such as Doppler ultrasound (to analyze actual blood flow to pinpoint blockages or narrowed arteries), specialized blood tests, and angiography.

How is PAD treated?

Peripheral Arterial Disease treatment has two goals – to manage symptoms, and to stop the progression of atherosclerosis to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. In some cases, this can be done by making lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation, weight loss, and regular exercise. In other cases, medications can be used to lower cholesterol levels, lower high blood pressure, control blood sugar, prevent blood clots, and relieve extreme symptoms.

If the PAD has progressed to a point at which even more extensive treatment is needed, the experienced doctors at Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers can also perform endovascular treatments. These treatments include lower extremity angioplasty and stenting, atherectomy, mesenteric angioplasty and stenting, carotid angiography, carotid stenting, and endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair to treat severely damaged arteries.

So if you have a family history of atherosclerosis or heart disease, if you have noticed any of the symptoms discussed earlier, or if you have increased risk factors for developing PAD, give the best heart doctors in Phoenix a call at 888-377-7122 or visit us online at www.ciccenters.com to find a specialist near you. We can set up an appointment to determine the exact state of your PAD health.

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