The British Heart Foundation estimates that around one in five people over the age of 60 have some degree of peripheral artery disease, which causes arteries supplying the arms and legs to narrow or become blocked with plaque or fatty tissue. 

When this happens in the heart, it’s called coronary heart disease, but peripheral artery disease (PAD) usually occurs in the legs and can result in severe pain, gangrene or even amputation.

The new study by Intermountain Health focused on the American population, where the condition affects over 10 million people from the age of 40.

It discovered that not only do patients face a 50% chance of dying from the condition due to these failures, but also that women were less likely to receive guideline-directed medical therapy than their male counterparts.

The researchers believe these shocking rates of underdiagnosis and undertreatment are due to “significant challenges” in identifying the condition because of its vague symptoms. 

One of the lesser-known yet distinctive symptoms of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is termed intermittent claudication, a term derived from the Latin word for ‘limp’.

It manifests as muscle pain in, for instance, your left leg while walking or engaging in exercise, even over short distances, due to insufficient blood and oxygen reaching the muscles.

However, after resting the affected leg, you may be able to continue the activity only to experience the pain once more at a similar distance.

Additional signs that might be mistaken for poor circulation include pins and needles sensations, coldness at the extremities, discoloured skin, muscle weakness, numbness, and discomfort. The veins could also look enlarged and sores or ulcers might develop on the skin.

While there’s no cure for PAD, adopting lifestyle amendments, prescribed medications, and potentially surgery can decelerate its advance, alleviate symptoms, and better patients’ quality of life. Such interventions may involve quitting smoking and using anticoagulants.

Up to 10% of patients may develop critical limb ischaemia, the most severe form of the condition, and face a 50% chance of death within five years according to the British Heart Foundation.

Less than 30% of women and about 33% of men with PAD are receiving optimal treatment.

Viet Le, the primary investigator of the study and an associate professor specialising in cardiovascular research, expressed grave concern, stating: “Every single person in these groups should have at least received antiplatelet therapy and statin. Instead, only about one in three did, which demonstrates the need to enhance methods to identify and treat peripheral artery disease.”

These insights were shared during the American College of Cardiology’s annual scientific sessions conference in Chicago on Sunday, March 30.