BROWNS MILLS – Get up, stretch your legs, and head on over to Deborah Heart and Lung Center on April 13 for a Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) Screening event!
PAD is a potentially serious vascular disease that occurs when arteries in the legs become clogged with fatty cholesterol deposits, reducing blood flow to the legs. PAD is very common, affecting approximately 17 million Americans.
Typical symptoms found in one third of patients with PAD include leg muscle pain and cramping when walking. Another third of patients with PAD will experience atypical symptoms such as heaviness or easy fatigability.The final third of PAD patients, particularly diabetics, will have no symptoms at all.
Patients with PAD are also at much higher risk for amputation, heart attack, stroke and death.
If you or someone you know has PAD, Deborah can help! PAD can be treated with lifestyle changes, medication, and non-surgical procedures. Early diagnosis and proper treatment are key to living well with PAD.
Deborah cites the follow as risk factors for PAD:
- Smoking, both present and former smokers
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Abnormal cholesterol levels
- African-American ethnicity
- Previous heart disease, heart attack, stroke or family history
The free PAD Screening event includes an ankle-brachial index test. This is a painless, noninvasive test that compares the blood pressure in the ankles with the blood pressure in the arms, and can indicate if you have PAD. If needed, additional noninvasive testing might be performed.
“PAD is a devastating disease that is often undiagnosed,” said Richard Kovach, MD, Division Director, Interventional Cardiology and Medical Director of the Adult Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory.“It is vitally important for those at risk to get screened for PAD. This screening event increases awareness of PAD and improves our community’s vascular health”.
The free PAD Screening event will be held on April 13, 8 a.m.-12 p.m., at Deborah Heart and Lung Center, 200 Trenton Road in Browns Mills. For more information, or to register, call 609-621-2080, Option #2, or visit demanddeborah.org.
){kind=link}