Health & Wellbeing
Smoking Carries a Heavy Load When You’ve Been Diagnosed with PAD
Resolving to quit smoking is something that some people do at least once every year. If you are like the majority, your attempts at quitting are more like hitting the pause button than stopping. You make it for a week or two before your compulsion to smoke takes over. You probably have an arsenal of excuses for why it isn’t the right time to stop smoking even though you know how bad it affects your health. Tobacco use increases your risk for developing various types of cancer, COPD, heart disease, stroke, and a lot more. What you might not know is that smoking also increases your risk of developing Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD).
It’s the chemicals in tobacco that cause damage to blood cells and to your blood vessels. This damage increases your risk of developing atherosclerosis, the build-up of waxy plaque in the arteries that limits blood flow. The same hardening of the arteries that causes cramping leg pain with PAD also causes coronary heart disease and stroke.
Will stopping smoking eliminate my cramping leg pain?
Some people reduce their risk of developing Peripheral Arterial Disease or improve their symptoms by stopping smoking. It might take a long time without using tobacco before your condition improves. For people who have smoked for many years or who have other risk factors, stopping smoking might not be enough. Some other things you can do to improve your condition are:
- Avoid second-hand smoke.
- Control your cholesterol levels. Many people with PAD have elevated cholesterol levels. You might need to change your diet or, if your condition is serious, take medication to lower your cholesterol levels.
- Manage your diabetes.
- Get regular physical activity.
- Consider minimally-invasive treatment for your PAD.
What PAD treatments are available from the best interventional radiology doctors in Dallas ?
At MTV IR, we use several minimally-invasive nonsurgical procedures to treat PAD. One example is an atherectomy used to remove the plaque from inside the arteries. Other procedures we offer include angioplasty and stent placement.
Stopping smoking is one of the best things you can do for your overall vascular health. Getting minimally invasive treatment can provide you with immediate symptom relief. To learn more about our PAD Treatments, have your doctors contact us,schedule a consult here or give us a call at 469-458-9800, we’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.
