Can I Prevent Peripheral Vascular Disease?

The American Heart Association reports that an estimated 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable, including dangerous conditions like stroke and heart attack. Yet, cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States. 

While peripheral vascular disease isn’t typically a direct cause of death, its presence does signal serious issues with your cardiovascular system that can lead to the unthinkable.

To help you stay one step ahead of peripheral vascular disease, Dr. Satjit Bhusri and the team of cardiovascular experts here at Upper East Cardiology thought we’d explore the many ways you can take charge of your vascular health.

A brief explanation of peripheral vascular disease

Before we get into effective prevention techniques for peripheral vascular disease, let’s briefly review what this condition is and how it affects your cardiovascular health.

With peripheral vascular disease, the blood vessels outside of those in your heart and brain are compromised. In most cases of peripheral vascular disease, blockages in the arteries in your legs hamper the flow of blood to these areas. 

The blockages are caused by atherosclerosis, which is a narrowing in your arteries due to a buildup of plaque on the walls of the blood vessels. This plaque often stems from high levels of fat and cholesterol in your blood that overwhelm your body’s ability to process these substances.

Know your risks

The most important step for following good preventive practices is to know your risks. With peripheral vascular disease, those risks include:

• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Older age
• Carrying extra weight
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Family history of poor vascular health
• High-fat diet

While there are some factors on this list that are impossible to mitigate, such as age and family medical history, there’s ample room for improvement in the other areas.

Great prevention techniques for peripheral vascular disease

Let’s go back to the list in the previous section and outline the preventive steps you can take to offset each of the changeable risks for peripheral vascular disease.

• Smoking — quitting smoking
• High blood pressure — using medication, diet, and exercise for better blood pressure control
• High cholesterol — eating a healthier diet
• Carrying extra weight — losing weight
• Sedentary lifestyle — exercising more
• Diabetes — managing your blood sugar better

We recognize that many of these steps are simple in theory, but far more difficult in practice. If, however, you review the actions we recommend, you’ll see that many cross over. 

As an example, through a few dietary changes that favor healthier foods and increasing the amount you exercise, you’ll check a lot of boxes, including lowering your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers at the same time as you lose weight.

And, we’re not talking about overhauling your life. If you simply swap out those chips and cookies with fruits and vegetables and take a nice walk around your neighborhood or in the park every day, you’re making great progress toward reducing your risks for peripheral vascular disease.

To get started, we highly recommend that you come see us so we can evaluate your vascular health, your lifestyle, and your personal and family medical history. With this information, we can create a solid baseline from which to work and create a preventive cardiology plan that best suits your goals.

To get started, contact our New York City office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to schedule a consultation.