• Peripheral Artery Disease and Intermittent Claudication - Medications
• Highlights
• Introduction
• Symptoms
• Risk Factors
• Diagnosis
• Complications

Lifestyle Changes

Quit Smoking

Patients who smoke should quit. Smoking is one of the primary risk factors for PAD and a major cause of complications. Quitting smoking may not make leg pain go away, at least not in the short term, but it certainly may keep blockages from getting worse. Continued smoking is associated with the majority of patients who progress from milder forms of PAD to critical limb ischemia involving severe pain, skin ulcers, and possible amputation. Smoking cessation also...