Specialist in Cardiovascular Surgery at Özel Egekent Hospital, Op. Dr. İhsan ALUR, made statements about a future public health threat: chronic leg pain.
Expressing his views on Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), Op. Dr. İhsan ALUR said, “It is a serious ‘vascular’ disease that progresses with narrowing (stenosis) or blockage (occlusion) in the arteries carrying blood to the lower extremities (legs) due to atherosclerosis (hardening or calcification of the arteries), and can even result in death. With the increase in life expectancy in humans, the frequency of this disease is gradually rising, and it is thought to affect more than thirty million people worldwide. In a study conducted in the Aegean Region, the prevalence of this disease in the general population was found to be 19.7%. In other words, roughly one in five adults (1/5) carries the risk of developing this disease at some point! Individuals with risk factors up to the age of sixty-five have 2.4 times the risk compared to those without risk factors, and after the age of sixty-five, the risk of developing PAD is more than four times higher. The prevalence of PAD is 25.8% in men and 17.2% in women. This means that men are at higher risk than women,” he stated.
Op. Dr. İhsan ALUR mentioned that the defined risk factors for PAD are male gender, advanced age (especially 65 and above), smoking or tobacco use, hyperlipidemia (high blood fat levels), hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome (syndrome X). Dr. İhsan ALUR noted that according to the 2009 Metabolic Syndrome Guide published by the Turkish Endocrinology and Metabolism Society’s Metabolic Syndrome Study Group; metabolic syndrome is a fatal endocrinopathy in which systemic disorders such as abdominal obesity (belly fat accumulation) starting with insulin resistance, glucose intolerance (commonly known as latent diabetes, this term is used when an individual’s blood sugar is between normal and diabetic levels), or diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and coronary artery disease (CAD) are combined. Metabolic syndrome is also defined by different terms such as insulin resistance syndrome, syndrome X, polymetabolic syndrome, deadly quartet, and civilization syndrome.
The cardiovascular surgery specialist, Op. Dr. İhsan ALUR, stated that compared to Western European countries, the widespread use of cigarettes/tobacco, excessive weight (obesity), and the increase in diabetes and hypertension are significant problems in our country. Dr. İhsan ALUR said, “Although Turkey has a young population, due to the reasons mentioned above, the prevalence of atherosclerotic vascular disease (PAD) and complications such as leg pain caused by walking (claudication), non-healing wounds on feet and legs, loss of foot or leg, and even patient death are increasingly encountered.” Leg pain develops due to insufficient blood flow to the leg during walking caused by arterial blockage. Claudication is an unpleasant and distressing condition that negatively affects the patient’s quality of life. Therefore, we must be alert to this disease and take precautions against smoking/tobacco use, hyperlipidemia (high blood fat levels), hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome, said Özel Egekent Hospital Cardiovascular Surgery Specialist İhsan ALUR. He also warned about quitting smoking, controlling blood sugar and fat levels, exercising, losing weight, and adopting an active lifestyle.