The most common cause of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is atherosclerosis. In atherosclerosis, fatty deposits (plaques) build up on your artery walls and reduce blood flow. PAD mimics a condition similar to coronary artery disease and carotid artery disease where fatty deposits develop in the inner linings of their artery walls. These blockages limit blood circulation, mainly in arteries resulting in the kidneys, arms, stomach, legs, and feet.

Robert S. Schwartz, MD says:"Atherosclerosis and PAD is pretty much the same thing. Atherosclerosis is the hardening of the arteries. It's the plaque that builds up; it's the calcium, the fats, the fibrous tissue, the scarring that grows into the arteries and stops the blood from flowing into the legs. "

In the UK, about 2.7 million people age 55 or older, have a certain amount of peripheral arterial disease and almost 8-12 million people in the United States who have this disorder are unaware of having this condition.

PAD is often silent for a lengthy time before you will see any signs. Some Symptoms of PAD may include:

1. Foot pain That Doesn't go away Once You stop exercising
2. Cold and numb feet or toes
3. Leg numbness or weakness
4. A change in the color of your legs
5. Decreased leg strength, operate, and poor balance

6. Experiencing distress within the muscles of the calves or the thighs, along with the buttocks might be indicative of claudication. (PAD leg pain occurs in the muscles, not the joints)

7. Hair reduction on your legs and feet

8. Changes in your nails

9. Foot pain in the rest, which indicates that PAD is getting worse

10. Foot or fur wounds that Won't cure or heal very slowly
11. Erectile dysfunction

12. Gangrene

*Symptoms of peripheral vascular disease are dependent on what artery is affected and how badly the blood circulation is decreased.

Among the serious sub ramifications of peripheral vascular disease is Buerger's disease (thromboangiitis obliterans). It is distinguished by a blend of inflammation and clots in the arteries and veins which block blood flow. Brandon Carmichael is a young guy who has suffered this disease to an extreme, with had his left leg amputated below the knee by smoking.

The possibility of peripheral vascular disease is dramatically improved in smokers. When a person stops smoking, irrespective of how much he or she may have smoked in the past, their risk of peripheral vascular disease quickly declines.

At a Health Briefing on Silent Epidemic, Peripheral Arterial Disease article Alan T. Hirsch, MD, Chair, P.A.D. Coalition says,"Peripheral arterial disease is the most dangerous disease that most Americans have never heard of".

The same article has the following warning:"People with peripheral arterial disease - P.A.D. - have up to a six-fold increase in cardiovascular death. Without early detection and proper treatment, one in four people with P.A.D. will suffer a heart attack, stroke, amputation or die within the next five years."

Should you include a lousy diet and a sedentary lifestyle within this equation, you most likely have a prescription to die much younger. How many smokers with Peripheral Arterial Disease have died of a heart attack or stroke where the link to smoking as a risk factor fell quiet?