Arteriosclerosis causes arteries stiffening and loss of elasticity. Arteries are blood vessels in the body carrying nutrients and oxygen from the heart to the whole body. Actually arteries are to be strong, flexible, and elastic, but, excessive pressure inside the arteries makes the walls stiff and thick.
The walls thickness restricts the flow of the blood to tissues and different organs. If the brain or heart is affected, this leads to a heart attack or a stroke. If some other organs such as kidneys and limbs get affected, this leads to muscle cramps, numbness and pain.
Firstly arteriosclerosis affects the limbs. The disorder is asymptomatic at first and it develops very slowly. It can worsen with age. Here are the symptoms attributed to arteriosclerosis that affects the limbs.
Chronic leg pain: A person who suffers from arteriosclerosis complains of chronic leg pain. The legs color might turn dark and they are always cold.
Muscle pain: a person may experience pain in the feet, calves, thighs, and may find it tough to sleep and sit comfortably. Such sign cannot be ignored and you should consult the doctor in case the pain remains for a long time.
Legs numbness: an individual often finds his legs and feet getting numb if he sits in a position for long. He can feel muscle stiffness and it is often painful to walk.
Treatment
Cholesterol medicines: they help to stop and reverse the build of various fatty deposits in the arteries. Sometimes doctors can prescribe anticoagulants to people with arteriosclerosis. They work as blood thinners, in such a way preventing blood clots formation.
Anti-Platelet drugs: They decrease the risk of blood clumping in the narrowed arteries. Anti-platelet drug, balloon angioplasty provides a treatment option for people with arteriosclerosis. Doctors use it to open coronary arteries, however performed on blood vessels which are of affected extremity.
Surgery: actually this is helpful to treat arteriosclerosis and it is commonly chosen over all the medications mentioned above. There are different surgery types for treating this disorder. And out of all the types bypass surgery, which is performed with the use of an artificial graft or a vein, is the major one. Additionally endarterectomy (which means removal of the artery lining) and grafting (which is vessel replacing or repairing) represent other surgical ways used to treat arteriosclerosis.