How to control peripheral vascular disease

If you feel pain in your legs after walking, it may be due to peri­pheral vascular disease, an ailment affecting hundreds of thousands of Canadians. Thankfully, lifestyle changes go a long way to controlling this disease.

• In milder cases of PVD, an exercise program can dramatically relieve leg pain and can be as effective as medications or surgery for increasing the distance you can walk without pain. When you exercise regularly, the body naturally uses smaller blood vessels. With PVD, this added circulation will help compensate for a blocked artery
• You'll need to push yourself a bit by walking every day. Pick a realistic distance, say half a kilometre (a quarter mile). Walk until you feel pain. Stop and rest, checking how far you've come and how long it took. When the pain passes, start walking again. Keep up this cycle for the full distance. In a few weeks, your "points of pain" will improve, and you can start increasing both your daily distance and your speed
• The same conditions causing blocked arteries in your legs also affect arteries in your heart. And heart-healthy lifestyle changes will help both. The single most important action you can take is to stop smoking; smoking decreases the elasticity of your blood vessels and increases your risk for blood clots
• Pay attention to your diet. Get plenty of fruits and vegetables, avoid saturated fats and keep your weight down.
• In addition, treat related conditions, including high cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure

The good news is that virtually no one ever dies from peripheral vascular disease. The bad news is that the condition will deteriorate unless you make some significant lifestyle changes. The aim of therapy is to relieve pain and, over the long term, to prevent your condition from becoming worse.