Peripheral artery disease (also called peripheral arterial disease) is a common circulatory problem in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to your limbs. Let us know in detail from the best heart specialist doctor in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

When you develop peripheral artery disease (PAD), your extremities — usually your legs — don’t receive enough blood flow to keep up with demand. This causes symptoms, most notably leg pain when walking (claudication).

SIGNS & SYMPTOMS

• Legs tire but improve with rest
• Leg cramps
• Can’t walk far
• Wounds don’t heal

IF YOU HAVE PAD YOU ARE AT A HIGHER RISK FOR

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Limb loss

SEE MORE: Leg Pain While You Walk? Never Ignore It

PERIPHERAL ARTERY DISEASE (PAD)TREATMENT

Treatment for peripheral artery disease has two major goals:

• Manage symptoms, such as leg pain, so that you can resume physical activities
• Stop the progression of atherosclerosis throughout your body to reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke

Medications:

• Cholesterol-lowering medications
• High blood pressure medications
• Medication to control blood sugar
• Medications to prevent blood clots
• Symptom-relief medications

In some cases, angioplasty or surgery may be necessary to treat peripheral artery disease that’s causing claudication.

Still having concerns about your heart? Talk to the best heart specialist in Ahmedabad. Drop us a message or give us a call.

Carotid angioplasty (kuh-ROT-id AN-jee-o-plas-tee) and stenting are procedures that open clogged arteries to restore blood flow to the brain. Let us know in detail from the best angioplasty doctor in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

What is Carotid angioplasty?

The carotid arteries are located on each side of your neck. These are the main arteries supplying blood to your brain. Carotid angioplasty is a procedure that opens clogged arteries to restore blood flow to the brain. It is often performed to treat or prevent stroke.

Why it’s done

Carotid angioplasty and stenting may be appropriate stroke treatments or stroke-prevention options if:

• You have a carotid artery with a blockage of 70% or more, especially if you’ve had a stroke or stroke symptoms, and you aren’t in good enough health to undergo surgery
• You have already had a carotid endarterectomy and are experiencing new narrowing after surgery (restenosis)
• The location of the narrowing (stenosis) is difficult to access with endarterectomy

SEE MORE: Facts You Should Know About Angioplasty

Still having concerns about your heart? Talk to the best heart specialist in Ahmedabad. Drop us a message or give us a call.

What is a silent heart attack?

A silent heart attack is a heart attack that has few, if any, symptoms. You may have never had any symptoms to warn you that you’ve developed a heart problem, such as chest pain or shortness of breath. Some people later recall their silent heart attack was mistaken for indigestion, nausea, muscle pain or a bad case of the flu.

The risk factors for a silent heart attack…

are the same as those for a heart attack with symptoms. The risk factors include:

• Smoking or chewing tobacco
• Family history of heart disease
• Age
• High cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Lack of exercise
• Being overweight

Having a silent heart attack puts you at a greater risk of having another heart attack, which could be fatal. Having another heart attack also increases your risk of complications, such as heart failure.

Still having concerns about your heart? Talk to the best heart specialist in Ahmedabad. Drop us a message or give us a call.

A coronary angiogram is a procedure that uses X-ray imaging to see your heart’s blood vessels. The test is generally done to see if there’s a restriction in blood flow going to the heart.

Why is Coronary Angiogram needed?
Your doctor may recommend that you have a coronary angiogram if you have:

• Symptoms of coronary artery disease, such as chest pain (angina)
• Pain in your chest, jaw, neck or arm that can’t be explained by other tests
• New or increasing chest pain (unstable angina)
• A heart defect you were born with (congenital heart disease)
• Abnormal results on a non-invasive heart stress test
• Other blood vessel problems or a chest injury
• A heart valve problem that requires surgery

If you have a fitness tracker or a health band, it will tell you to take 10,000 steps daily. But, is this target enough for a healthy heart?

Fitness instructors, cleaners, household workers or dog walkers may manage these 10K steps very easily. But what about many of us that has idle desk job or someone with chronic health conditions.

So how often we can manage a week-long stretch above 10,000 steps a day.
Answer: rarely.

Why 10,000 steps?

The magic number “10,000” dates back to a marketing campaign conducted shortly before the start of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. A company began selling a pedometer called the Manpo-kei: “man” meaning 10,000, “po” meaning steps and “kei” meaning meter. It was hugely successful and the number seems to have stuck.

Since then, studies have compared the health benefits of 5,000 versus 10,000 steps and, not surprisingly, the higher number is better. Over the years some high-profile health organisations, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), promoted the 10,000 steps as a target for healthy adults.

What has research found?

Research has shown that walking less than 5000 steps a day increases your risk of heart diseases and other chronic health conditions significantly. Person walking less than 5000 steps a day is considered to have a sedentary life.

And many studies on a large scale have concluded that 10,000 steps a day is a reasonable target for a healthy adult, with 7000-8000 per day as minimum. So are more steps better?

Not necessarily. It also found even moderate increases in steps had benefit for your cardiovascular health. This suggests that for some people, starting with a lower step goal may be better.

The Heart Foundation recommends minimum of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, i.e. two and half hours. So that means 30 minutes a day. For a start, both 30 minutes a day or 10,000 steps a day, have proven benefits to your heart health like lowering your risk of coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

If you can’t manage 30 minutes all in one go, try three 10-minute exercise “snacks”.

Will 10,000 steps a day help me lose weight?
Well, that depends on what you eat and your metabolism. That said, currently do a less than 10,000 steps a day and gradually increase the count to help you shift your extra kilos.

Why should I be active?

Your heart is a muscle and needs exercise to help keep it fit so that it can pump blood efficiently around your body. Without regular physical activity, the body slowly loses its strength, stamina and ability to function well.

• Preventing heart disease
• Lowering your risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke
• Helping to fight the battle to quit smoking
• Aiding cardiac rehabilitation
• Establishing good heart healthy habits in children
• Building stronger immunity
• Reducing blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure
• Helping to reduce stress, tension, depression and anxiety
• Helping to control weight
• Improving overall health and well being, prolonging your optimal health

Wrapping Up…

What can we conclude from all of this? Count if you find it motivates you, but remember there’s nothing special about 10,000 steps. Set the goal that is right for you. It might be more, it might be less – or it might be throwing out your tracker entirely.