Peripheral Artery Disease Risk Quiz

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs when your blood circulation is compromised, because your arteries are narrowing, making it more difficult for the blood to flow through. Your arteries are the blood vessels that carry refreshed and oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. Having PAD raises your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.

People at highest risk of PAD are those who smoke or have diabetes, but also people who are African American and seniors have a higher risk than most others.

PAD isn’t rare. It’s estimated that about 10 million American live with PAD.

Since PAD doesn’t have any symptoms* until it has been present for a while and is causing problems, finding out if you’re at risk may help you seek help and be diagnosed before it becomes an issue. For this reason, the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation recommends that older Americans, smokers and diabetics take its free, online self-assessment quiz.

According to a press release issued by the foundation,

The online quiz at SIRF’s Legs for Life® Web site (www.legsforlife.org) helps assess health, family and lifestyle risks for PAD. The higher one’s score, the more important it is for that individual to discuss the quiz’s results with his or her doctor.

The Legs for Life program is

a community health and public information program of SIR Foundation—began a decade ago because interventional radiologists—vascular experts who treat PAD—recognized that the disease is a major public health problem with a growing incidence, yet awareness among the general public and nonvascular health care providers is low. The primary goals of Legs for Life® are to educate the public, primary care physicians and the medical community; identify patients at risk through screenings; and strengthen collaborative relationships among health care professionals who treat this condition.
Legs for Life® offers a free national screening program dedicated to improving the cardiovascular health of the community with the early detection of PAD during September’s national PAD awareness month. In September, limited free testing is available for PAD at Legs for Life® sites around the country.

Are you at risk? Maybe you should be checked, just to be sure.

*Symptoms of PAD, once it has been present for a while include (MayoClinic.com):

• Painful cramping in your hip, thigh or calf muscles after walking or climbing stairs (intermittent claudication)
• Leg numbness or weakness
• Coldness in your lower leg or foot, especially when compared with the other leg
• Sores on your toes, feet or legs that won’t heal
• A change in the color of your legs
• Hair loss on your feet and legs
• Changes in your toenails

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Images: iStock.com