cardiac
HEALTH ON TIME
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FALL 2014
circulate the news PROTECT YOUR CIRCULATORY SYSTEM AND PREVENT VASCULAR DISEASE
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he circulatory system, also called
the vascular system, includes 60,000 miles of blood vessels—arteries, veins, and capillaries—that circulate nearly 10 pints of blood through your body 24/7. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a nutritious low-salt diet, exercise, a healthy weight, and abstaining from tobacco help protect your blood vessels’ health. However, certain diseases and chronic conditions increase your risk of vascular disease. Arterial vascular disease affects arteries and is usually caused by plaque buildup. The resulting condition, atherosclerosis, can lead to heart attack or stroke. Vascular disease in the veins can involve a blood clot in a leg vein or poorly functioning
AT R I S K F O R PA D ?
According to the CDC, high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, and smoking are among the top risk factors for heart disease, and about half of Americans have at least one of these risk factors.
vein valves. If you suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, or high cholesterol, you are more susceptible to vascular disease.
It is estimated that 53% of Americans with high blood pressure aren’t taking steps to control their disease.
You are at greater risk of developing peripheral arterial disease (PAD) if you: • are over the age of 50 • have high blood pressure •h ave a history of vascular disease, heart attack, or stroke • have diabetes • smoke or used to smoke
Hypertension affects nearly 77.9 million Americans. If not managed properly, it can lead to several vascular diseases, including sluggish blood flow to the legs and feet, which can in turn lead to blood clots in leg veins. The CDC reports that vascular disease is a main cause for sickness and death among patients with diabetes, a disease that affects 29.1 million Americans. When excess glucose collects in the blood vessels, they become thicker and less elastic, restricting blood flow. People with diabetes are at high risk for peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a vascular disease of the blood vessels of the legs that increases the chance of heart attack, stroke, or limb
Avoid Surgery
loss. It is estimated that 1 out of 3 diabetics age 50 or older have PAD. A regular cholesterol Atherectomy therapies check will make you remove plaque from the aware of levels of lowarteries in the legs, density lipoproteins without stents or (LDL, or “bad” cholestersurgeries. Learn more ol) and high-density by calling lipoproteins (HDL, or 706-721-2426. “good” cholesterol). HDL helps the body, while high LDL can build up and obstruct arteries, potentially resulting in heart attack, stroke, or limb loss. The CDC estimates that about 1 in every 3 American adults have high LDL and therefore have twice the risk of heart disease as those with optimal cholesterol levels. To protect your circulatory system, be vigilant about following your physician’s treatment program, know your risk factors, and make sure your cholesterol and blood pressure stay in the healthy zone by checking in with your doctor as recommended.
more active with PAD? GRU RESEARCH UNCOVERS HOW EXERCISE CAN HELP
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or millions of Americans, simply walking to the mailbox can cause unbearable leg pain as muscles scream for more blood and oxygen. It’s called peripheral arterial disease, and
ironically, one of the best ways to alleviate it is by regularly walking to that point of pain. However, researchers hope a noninvasive measure of oxygen levels in leg muscles will put patients on the road to improvement without the severe discomfort. The idea is to push to the point of leg pain, then rest so the blood requirements of the muscles decrease, said Dr. Jonathan Murrow, cardiologist and faculty member at the Georgia Regents University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership in Athens. “It’s been shown that if you do this over and over again three times a week for an hour per session, after 12 weeks you will be able to walk twice as far as you did when you started,” said Murrow.
“However, if you just tell somebody to do that, many simply won’t.” Murrow is principal investigator on a new American Heart Association-funded study to find out if a sophisticated light sensor that distinguishes which red blood cells are carrying oxygen and which aren’t can also signal when patients have pushed far enough before pain hits. “We want to find a better way to use exercise as medicine for these patients,” said Murrow, who is working with colleagues at UGA and Emory University to directly compare results from the old and new approaches in about 100 patients. “We want to help them to continue to enjoy what they like to do.”
For more information, visit gru.edu/diabetes. GRU-013
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