Have you ever had such experiences:
As I was walking along the road, my leg suddenly began to ache. I had to rest before I could continue to walk. If I walked again, I began to ache again.
In this way, only stop-and-go, like lame intermittent attacks, very uncomfortable.
In fact, this is the lower limb artery in [red light], tell everyone, the lower limb artery has pathological changes.
Diabetic lower limb arterial disease, what is it?
Diabetic lower limb arteriopathy is a very common but easily neglected diabetic complication.
Diabetic lower limb arterial disease mainly refers to lower limb atherosclerosis, which is simply the lower limb artery [traffic jam].
As we all know, the arteries in our bodies are the only way for blood to run in our bodies. However, for diabetics, this road is not smooth.
Hyperglycemia, blood becomes sticky, thrombosis is also easy to form, gathered in the artery wall, over time, it forms plaque, blocking the artery. If there is also hyperlipidemia, lipid substances also deposit plaque in the artery, which is tantamount to adding fuel to the fire. In addition, hypertension can also aggravate the arterial [congestion] situation, making the situation further worse.
Viewed from the outside, this plaque is yellow, like thick porridge, hence the name [atherosclerosis].
The incidence of lower limb atherosclerosis in diabetic patients is relatively high and increases with age.
At the same time, the onset of the complication is earlier and many arteries may be affected, so the consequences are more serious.
Don’t ignore lower limb arteries [traffic jam]
Generally speaking, blood flows through arteries before reaching organs and tissues to provide nutrition. Once arteries [traffic jams], their nutritious organs and tissues will become ischemic or even necrotic. For example, arterial lesions in the heart and brain can cause coronary heart disease and cerebral infarction.
However, when the lower limb arteries [traffic jam], the skin, muscles and nerves of the lower limbs lack sufficient nutrition, and skin ulceration and neuropathy will also occur. The following is a significant increase in the risk of diabetic foot and amputation.
In pathogenesis, diabetic lower limb arterial disease is similar to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as coronary heart disease and cerebral infarction. Therefore, these diseases often exist at the same time clinically. Although lower limb arterial disease will not be fatal immediately, myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction caused by coronary heart disease often endanger life.
Diabetic lower limb arterial diseases are the disease signals of these cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which need to be prevented and treated as soon as possible and should not be ignored.
Which symptoms are [traffic jam] signals
In the early stage of diabetic lower limb arterial disease, most patients have no symptoms. Only 10% ~ 20% have symptoms, which may be manifested as:
- After walking, lower limb pain and soreness must be rested to improve before walking can continue, i.e. Intermittent claudication. The lower limbs are cold, the limbs are pale when raised, and the pulsation of dorsal foot artery is weakened. Toenails are rough and easy to break, and lower limb skin is dry, cold and cracked.
In the middle and late stages of the disease, these symptoms become more and more obvious. Even during rest, lower limb pain, even ulceration and gangrene will occur.
Once you feel that you have these symptoms, you should go to the hospital for examination immediately. Doctors will combine ankle-brachial index (ABI) lower limb vascular color Doppler ultrasound and lower limb arterial angiography to investigate diabetic lower limb arterial lesions.
Prevent before blocking, and do a good job in these points.
Diabetic lower limb arterial lesions cannot be reversed, so lower limb arteries should be prevented before blocking.
The most important thing is to strictly control the risk factors leading to lower limb arterial diseases, including:
1. Correcting unhealthy lifestyles
Smoking, drinking and obesity all aggravate arterial diseases of lower limbs. Sugar lovers must give up smoking, limit alcohol and control weight.
2. Strictly control blood sugar, blood pressure and blood lipid
According to the doctor’s advice, reasonable application of hypoglycemic drugs, antihypertensive drugs, lipid-regulating drugs, etc.
3. Take aspirin or clopidogrel
People over 50 years old, especially sugar lovers complicated with hypertension, obesity, proteinuria, hyperlipidemia and other diseases, can take aspirin or clopidogrel orally under the guidance of doctors to prevent the occurrence and development of diseases if there is no drug contraindication.
4. Timely screening
Patients with diabetes diagnosed over 50 years old should be screened for lower limb arterial diseases immediately and routinely.
For example, diabetic patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, smoking or diabetes with a course of more than 5 years should be screened at least once a year for early detection and treatment.
After blocking, dredge, there are several tricks
If diabetic lower limb arterial disease has been diagnosed, in addition to taking the above measures, we should also pay attention to these points:
1. Moderate Exercise
Arterial lesions of lower limbs often bring fatigue and pain to legs and feet, making people unwilling to exercise.
However, it is still recommended that everyone exercise moderately, at least half an hour a day and at least 5 days a week. If you have the ability, you can exercise appropriately for a longer time, and the exercise method is mainly slow walking.
Exercise can not only help control sugar, but also improve blood circulation of lower limbs and relieve symptoms of leg and foot pain and fatigue.
Step 2 Use vasodilators
Commonly used are oral cilostazol and intravenous alprostadil, which need to be used under the guidance of doctors.
3. Vascular reconstruction surgery
If conservative medical treatment is ineffective, surgical vascular reconstruction can be performed, which can significantly reduce amputation rate and improve quality of life.
There are many ways of surgical treatment, which can be put into stents to expand arteries and relieve [traffic jam] problems. Or directly take out thrombus to unblock blood vessels; Or use artificial methods to open up a new road for blood circulation.
4. Timely screening of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
Finally, we should remind everyone that diabetic lower limb arterial diseases are often risk signals for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction and stroke.
Therefore, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases must be screened in time. If cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are found, active treatment is needed.