September is the International Vascular Disease Awareness Month. The purpose of this event is to raise awareness about vascular diseases and provide support for those living with the condition. Raising awareness of vascular diseases and the importance of healthy veins and arteries, helps to promote research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of vascular disease. Providing essential information to patients and their families about vein disease and how the vascular disease affects the health of arteries and veins, helps to ensure we can lead longer, healthier lives.
The understanding of the vascular disease by the general public is often poor, and most people don’t realize the problems veins can cause. Vascular disease is the collective term for diseases that affect the circulatory system, ranging from diseases of the arteries, veins, and lymph vessels. Everyone is at risk, it’s as common as cancer and heart disease and accounts for over 50% of the population in Western countries. Certain conditions such as obesity also contribute to further risks and complications.
Some vascular diseases can be prevented and others treated when diagnosed early. Varicose veins over time get bigger and multiply in number, the skin around the ankle gets thicker, drier, and can become itchy and painful. Early stage signs and symptoms can be the presence of lumpy, twisted veins, a sensation of fullness, pressure, numbness, warmth, tightness, achiness, heavy feelings, and possibly fatigue in the lower leg as the day progresses. If venous disease is not treated or is undertreated, the condition can progress towards swelling, skin changes, painful infections, chronic wounds (ulcers), and consequent disability and loss of health-related quality of life.
Preventive measures include:
Exercise regularly
Watch body weight
Quit tobacco use
Avoid excessive alcohol intake
Control blood pressure and blood sugar
Avoid sitting or standing in one position for a long period of time
Early-stage vein disease (present as spider veins and often viewed as a purely cosmetic concern) should be treated before the signs of advanced disease occur. Treatment of early stages includes medications, dermal creams and ointments, and the above-mentioned lifestyle changes. When people with symptoms do not respond to the simpler treatments described, the disease is managed with vein ablation treatments. Combining these procedures with compression stockings, gives in the majority of cases enduring results.
What is Chronic Venous Insufficiency?
Chronic venous insufficiency is a chronic circulatory condition that happens when the veins in the legs do not return blood to the heart and upper body properly. The veins work toward keeping blood flowing back toward the heart and valves within the veins help to stop the blood from flowing back down to the lower extremities. When the valves in the veins have become damaged, blood may flow backward and pool in the legs, leading to risks for varicose veins, leg ulcers, blood clots, and other serious complications such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Chronic venous insufficiency is a common disease in the general population, and its prevalence in Spanish adults is 37% in men and 64% in women. Its incidence increases with pregnancy and age, however, it is increasingly affecting younger patients, mainly due to a more sedentary lifestyle. It is characterized as a chronic, progressive disease and without proper treatment can lead to complications that affect quality of life.
International Vascular Disease Awareness Month is observed in September, and the purpose of this event is to raise awareness about vascular diseases. Some vascular diseases can be prevented and others treated when diagnosed early, this further emphasizes the importance of sensitization for the research and treatment.
References:
(Pinch on the text to read the following Research Article)
TheSeriousness of Chronic Venous Disease: A Review of Real-WorldEvidence
