10 Things You Should Know About Peripheral Artery Disease

8 How to treat PAD

The treatments for PAD have changed a lot in the last 20 years. In addition to medicines that stop PAD from getting worse, patients can now be treated with catheter-based techniques that are less invasive and have good results.

There are things you can also do to avoid getting PAD or at least aid in its treatment. Quitting smoking and taking care of diabetes well are the most important things for preventing and treating PAD. A heart-healthy diet, like the Mediterranean diet, and regular physical activity also slow the progression of atherosclerosis and the development of PAD. If changing your lifestyle isn’t enough, you can take medications that lower cholesterol and blood pressure and also stop blood clots from forming.

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9 Medications for PAD

Aspirin or clopidogrel (Plavix), a medicine that keeps blood from clotting in your arteries, is usually prescribed to treat PAD. It would be best if you did not stop taking these medicines before talking to your doctor or nurse. Cilostazol is a drug that works to widen (dilate) the affected artery or arteries when surgery is not an option for moderate-to-severe cases. Surgery may be done if your condition is far too severe bad and makes it hard for you to work or do other important things, if you have pain even when you’re resting, or if you have sores or ulcers on your leg that don’t heal.

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10 How to prevent PAD?

Some of the things you can do to lower your risk of peripheral artery disease are:

• Doing at least 30 minutes of exercise every day.
• Not smoking or quitting smoking if you do smoke.
• Diet, exercise, and medicine can help you keep yourself in check.
• Having no more than one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men.
• Eat healthy foods, eat less, and join a weight loss program to keep your weight at a healthy level.
• Cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes can be controlled with diet, exercise, and, if needed, medicine.
• Learn how to deal with stress healthily through special classes, programs, or activities like yoga or meditation.

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