Diabetes Complications: What is Peripheral Artery Disease???

Let’s talk about a very common diabetic complication, PERIPHERAL ARTERY DISEASE…

Back in March, I focused primarily on diabetes complications and thought that since I’m talking alot about foot care that it would only be right for me to revisit peripheral artery disease or PAD. Before I get into though, I want to let you know about my most recent video where I go into the components of a clinical foot exam:

So, let’s get into it!…

What is Peripheral Artery Disease?

Simply put, the narrowing of the arteries. This condition is very common but goes undiagnosed often. It’s so common that 1 in 3 people 50 and older have some degree of PAD. Many things outside of diabetes can cause PAD like uncontrolled blood pressure and cholesterol, smoking, and the natural aging process but many times when it is finally detected, unfortunately, it’s been present for years. Now think about that…a condition that is highly preventable and treatable that goes undetected for years? Screening is of the essence with PAD in order to preserve and improve our patients quality of life.

What are common complaints/signs & symptoms of PAD?

Patients will complain of leg pain, hair loss (REMEMBER: “Hair won’t grow where blood doesn’t go!”) and intermittent claudication is a classic symptom that is leg pain with exertion or activity but with the diabetic patient it’s the opposite, leg pain at rest.

To learn more about PAD (like how to screen and treat the condition), I linked the video I created over it below. Also, if you would, please subscribe to my YouTube channel, Kim E. The Diabetes NP, and if you are on social media, I’m active on Instagram so follow me @thediabetesnp.