What Is It?

In peripheral vascular disease, not enough blood flows to the legs. It usually is caused by fatty deposits (called plaques) that build up along the walls of blood vessels. This buildup shrinks the size of the passageway and reduces the amount of blood that can flow through. Doctors call this atherosclerosis. The most common symptom is intermittent claudication, a cramping in the legs or buttocks when you exercise that goes away when you rest. The risk factors for getting peripheral vascular disease are the same as the risk factors for coronary heart disease, and include:

• Smoking cigarettes or using other forms of tobacco (such as snuff and chew)

• An abnormally high level of cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia)

• An abnormally low level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, the good cholesterol)

• High blood pressure (hypertension)

• Diabetes

• Family history of coronary artery disease

• Obesity

• Physical inactivity (too little regular exercise)

Symptoms

The most common symptom of peripheral vascular disease is pain or cramping in the legs or buttocks that starts when you exercise and goes away when you rest. Often the pain is described as a deep ache, especially in the calf muscle. The pain may extend to the foot or up toward the thigh and buttock. Sometimes there is just numbness in the leg, or a sense that one leg gets tired when you walk. A foot or toes also may feel cold or numb.

If the arteries are severely narrowed, you could experience leg pain when you are not exercising. If blood flow stops completely (usually because a blood clot forms in the narrowed vessel), parts of the leg may become pale or turn blue, feel stone cold to the touch and eventually develop gangrene.