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Introduction

Program: Peripheral Artery Disease and Diabetes

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Diagnosing Peripheral Artery Disease
  3. Treatment Options and Research

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Andrew Schorr:

Hello and welcome to Patient Power. I'm Andrew Schorr. This is where we tackle significant medical topics with leading medical experts from UCSF Medical Center, and one of the conditions that affects so many millions, maybe twenty-three million Americans and many millions more around the world, is diabetes.

Now people know you want to control your blood sugar, and they may know that you're at higher risk for heart problems and even stroke, but of course another condition that can go with it is diabetic neuropathy, circulation problems, and certainly peripheral artery disease, and we're going to learn more about that with Dr. Michael Conte who is Chief of Vascular Surgery at the UCSF Heart and Vascular Center.

Dr. Conte led the largest multi-center clinical trial to date examining the outcomes of leg bypass surgery in patients with severe peripheral artery disease, and we're also going to learn about the whole range of treatments and evaluation that's so important for people with diabetes.

Dr. Conte, thank you so much for being with us. Let's talk about diabetes. People may know that they're at risk for problems in their feet, but they may not understand the risks related to peripheral artery disease for diabetics and also how it could even be a signal that they have even life-threatening conditions that could be developing. Help us understand that.

Dr. Conte:

Sure Andrew. Diabetes and smoking are the two strongest risk factors for peripheral artery disease. I think it's widely understood that patients with diabetes are at increased risk for heart disease and stroke, and require close monitoring on that basis.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs as a result of blockages in the arteries in the leg. This disease is seen in a high percentage of patients with diabetes, perhaps as many as a third of them over time based on some estimates. In combination with other risk factors like smoking, diabetes puts patients at particularly increased risk for PAD and its most severe complication, which is loss of the limb. All patients with risk factors such as diabetes need to be aware of the importance of PAD.

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