Peripheral artery disease, is it associated with cardiac health?

[Whitecarnation]

I am going to contact my GP tomorrow, because I think I might have PAD.

I get pain in my calves, sometimes but not always, when I walk. I can just leave the house and my legs are aching. I have also found I just cannot rush and walk faster! Also going upstairs. The stairs bit I think I have had for probably for at least 6 years, as I noticed when going into work stairs made my legs ache. My legs also ache in bed usually calves and around ankles. I also have suffered for decades with discoloured skin on feet and ankles.

I am on a statin and my cholesterol is ok (although triglycerides were a bit high).

I just wondered the state of the arteries in my legs, reflects the arteries in my heart.

[10gingercats]

Hemosiderin, the dark patches on ankles, is usually due to tiny veins breaking in the ankles,hence dark red colour .Also called venal insufficiency.Can cause aches and pains in ankles and calves. I have had it for about 20 years and walked all over Europe and beyond with it I find it a nuisance more than anything else. Hospital dismissed it in my case .I do not think it is connected to heart artery problems. Never been mentioned to me But your doc. can confirm that.

[Chappychap]

"I just wondered the state of the arteries in my legs, reflects the arteries in my heart"

Yes.

Our atherosclerosis affects all our arteries, but it's particularly apparent in the arteries of the heart , the arteries in the neck that feed the brain (hence strokes), and the arteries in the leg.

[10gingercats]

I wrote about veins in the legs not arteries .The veins breaking and leaking cause the hemosiderin not arteries. Look it up if you are in doubt.

[Whitecarnation in reply to 10gingercats]

Thank you. I am thinking may have a problem with both. It’s good to put a name to the discolouration after all these years!

[Gnus]

The symptoms do sound convincing for peripheral arterial disease so it's definitely sensible to get a check up with your GP. The same kind of risk factors for atherosclerosis of the leg arteries can also affect the coronary arteries, so it's reasonable to ask for an echo and ECG particularly if you get breathless on exercise.

[Mountwood]

I have had aching calves for some years, but whenever I mentioned it to my GP he checked the pulses in my feet and dismissed me saying they were fine. Eventually I very politely requested some investigation and was referred to a vascular consultant who confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the circulation in my legs and suggested it could be spinal stenosis. He was right and a chiropractor has been very helpful.

[Whitecarnation in reply to Mountwood]

The body is so complicated isn’t it? Pain can be referred from one part of the body to another which seem to be unrelated. Thank you