Smoking is a very important cause of peripheral vascular disease.
Smoking also makes peripheral vascular disease worse in people who already have it. Treatment for this disease is less successful in smokers than in nonsmokers.
just the facts
Smoking accounts for about three-fourths of all cases of peripheral vascular disease. (1)
Experts estimate that the risk of peripheral vascular disease may be as much as 16 times higher in smokers than in nonsmokers. (2)
Sources 1. Cole CW, Hill GB, Farzad E, Bouchard A, Moher D, Rody K, Shea B. Cigarette smoking and peripheral arterial occlusive disease. Surgery 1993;114:753-757. 2. Cole CW, Hill GB, Farzad E, Bouchard A, Moher D, Rody K, Shea B. Cigarette smoking and peripheral arterial occlusive disease. Surgery 1993;114:753-757.
definition
When atherosclerosis develops in the legs and feet, it causes a condition called peripheral vascular disease. ("Peripheral" means "out on the edges" and "vascular" means "having to do with a blood vessel"; thus, peripheral vascular disease is a disease of the blood vessels in the outer parts of the body.) People with peripheral vascular disease may have pain in their legs and difficulty in walking. In mild cases, the pain may occur only when the person walks around, but in more severe cases, the pain may be there all the time. In some instances, people with severe peripheral vascular disease may need to have a foot or leg amputated (removed by surgery). Peripheral vascular disease occurs mostly in older people, but the artery damage that causes it starts much earlier in life.
explanation
Smoking doesn't just promote the development of atherosclerosis in the arteries that supply blood to the heart and brain; it does this throughout the body.
Smoking is a very important cause of peripheral vascular disease. Smoking accounts for about three-fourths of all cases of peripheral vascular disease. (1) Experts estimate that the risk of peripheral vascular disease may be as much as 16 times higher in smokers than in nonsmokers. (2) Smoking also makes peripheral vascular disease worse in people who already have it. Treatment for this disease is less successful in smokers than in nonsmokers.
There is a special kind of peripheral vascular disease called Buerger's disease that causes severe pain in the feet and hands and may result in amputation of toes or fingers. Almost all of the people who get Buerger's disease are men who smoke. Experts think that Buerger's disease is caused by a reaction to some substance in tobacco. Quitting smoking is a crucial part of treatment for Buerger's disease. People with this disease who continue smoking are much more likely than those who quit to need amputations.
