Time for a heart-to-heart.
When we think of cardiovascular disease, we might associate conditions like irregular heartbeat or heart failure with plaque buildup in the heart’s arteries.
It’s also widely known now that women and men experience different heart attack symptoms. However, an overlooked condition — especially in women — can raise the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Plaque can accumulate anywhere throughout the body, including the legs and ankles, leading to a condition called peripheral artery disease (PAD).
Buildup in the legs, pelvic area and arms blocks or narrows arteries, limiting blood flow and causing symptoms like leg pain, changes in skin color or temperature and ulcers.
PAD is equally common in men and women equally, but women are less likely to receive a timely diagnosis, leading to serious consequences — as women may report more atypical symptoms.
As PAD progresses, there are multiple risks: worse leg issues — like slow-healing wounds, gangrene and limb amputation (albeit rarely) — and major cardiovascular events.
The longer this condition is left untreated, the greater the chances of a major cardiovascular incident, with PAD linked to six times the risk of heart attack and a two- to threefold increase in the risk of stroke.
Women are also less likely to receive the recommended treatments, especially Black women. One reason why women may be left behind in treatment is that they often have different symptoms.
A study on women’s health and aging found that 63% of participants with PAD did not report the classic leg pain with activity and were considered “asymptomatic.”
Research from the American Heart Association shows that women with PAD are less likely to experience leg pain while walking. However, they face significant limits in mobility, walking speed and endurance.
PAD also tends to develop later in women, not affecting them until their 60s on average, while men start seeing symptoms a decade earlier.
Older women may be more likely to develop the arterial condition due to less estrogen and its protective effects on arteries. Other conditions that are common during this stage of life, like arthritis and osteoporosis, may also mimic PAD symptoms.
Thankfully, a simple ankle test can determine if you have arterial disease so you can receive treatment sooner.
If you’re experiencing any pain, numbness or discomfort in the legs or not moving around as quickly as you used to, checking your ankle pulse can help determine if you may be at risk for PAD.
If you’re missing a pulse, you can ask your doctor for a simple test known as an ankle-brachial index (ABI), which compares blood pressure measured at the ankle to blood pressure measured at the arm.
An ankle measurement that’s lower than the arm indicates a lack of proper blood flow to the legs and could be a sign of PAD.
Despite differing symptoms, risk factors are generally similar for both genders, often mirroring those of cardiovascular disease in general. These can include smoking, diabetes, older age, high cholesterol, obesity, unhealthy diet and high blood pressure.
Beyond lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking and eating a healthier diet, other treatment guidelines for PAD include medications like statins.
Surgical interventions to widen, stent or bypass narrowed arteries may be necessary in more severe cases.
