Do you always have cold legs and feet in winter? Be careful because your blood vessels are blocked! These 4 types of people should be more vigilant

"Doctor, my foot is always cold every winter. I can't feel anything. It feels like it's not mine."

This is what 63-year-old Mr. Wang said to his doctor during his consultation.

It turns out that in the past few years, when winter comes, Mr. Wang's feet are like ice cubes. No matter how hard he tries to warm them up, they can't get warm, especially this winter.

In the past half month, Mr. Wang found that whenever he went out and took a few steps in the cold weather, his legs would hurt, especially his left leg. Every time he walked a distance, he needed to rest for a while before he could relieve the pain and continue walking. However, he could not walk again after walking a few steps, and the walking distance was getting shorter and shorter, from 200 meters to 50 meters each time, so he went to the hospital for treatment.

In view of Mr. Wang's condition, the doctor conducted a series of examinations on him. The results of his lower limb blood vessels (CTA) indicated that the origin of the left popliteal artery, anterior tibial arteries and posterior tibial arteries were incompletely embolized and the lumen was narrowed to varying degrees. The preliminary diagnosis was "lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans."

Doctors remind: Lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans is one of the most common diseases in vascular surgery. There may be no obvious symptoms in the early stage, or only slight discomfort in the feet, such as chills and coldness, and then "intermittent claudication" symptoms gradually appear. This is a typical symptom of lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans.

As the disease progresses, rest pain appears, that is, pain in the extremities occurs when the patient is resting. It is more likely to occur when lying down or resting at night, and eventually ulcers and gangrene may occur in the limbs.

Therefore, people who have cold legs and feet for a long time should pay attention. If you find that your lower limbs cannot be kept warm no matter how much you wear, you might consider whether the blood vessels in your lower limbs are not being supplied with enough blood or are blocked. It is recommended that you go to the hospital to check your blood vessels.

Four major killers of the lower limb arterial system

Diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and smoking are the four major killers of the lower limb arterial system , among which smoking and diabetes are the most important risk factors.

1

diabetes

If the body is in an environment of chronic hyperglycemia for a long time, the endothelial surface of the blood vessel wall will be damaged by the toxicity of sugar for a long time, and the originally smooth surface will become bumpy.

The bad cholesterol in the blood will pass through the gaps in the inner membrane of the blood vessel wall and form plaques on the blood vessel wall. Over time, it will cause vascular disease .

2

hypertension

Long-term high blood pressure can cause spasm of small arteries, which can lead to vascular stenosis or occlusion.

High blood pressure can cause great damage to the intima of the lower limb arteries. The impact force is greater than normal blood pressure, which can easily cause them to deform abnormally , resulting in damage to the intima of the lower limb arteries, intima hyperplasia, thrombosis, and even occlusion.

3

High cholesterol

Hyperlipidemia is the main risk factor for atherosclerosis. When there is too much cholesterol and fat in the blood, they can deposit in the blood vessel walls to form plaques, gradually blocking the blood vessels.

Patients with hyperlipidemia have a lot of fat in their blood. When these fats are deposited in the lower limb arteries, that is, the blood vessel endothelium is covered with a layer of oil, this layer of oil becomes thicker and thicker, which will cause lower limb artery occlusion.

4

Smoking

The components in tobacco can damage vascular endothelial cells and promote the development of atherosclerosis . Smokers are much more likely to develop atherosclerosis than non-smokers.

In addition, the chemicals in tobacco can also increase the cholesterol and fat levels in the blood.

In addition, as people age , the functions of various organs in the body will gradually decline, and the risk of lower limb vascular occlusion will also increase. Men over 45 years old who have "three highs" and smoking habits should pay more attention!

How to self-check lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans?

General self-examination includes simple visual inspection and palpation, that is, observing the nutritional status of the lower limbs: whether there is dry skin, hair loss, etc.; palpation includes touching the temperature of the lower limbs and the pulsation of the arteries (dorsi pedis artery, posterior radial artery), etc.

Middle-aged and elderly people should pay special attention to cold legs and feet, as well as numbness and pain. If you often have cold feet, or your calves hurt after walking a few hundred meters , you should observe the color of your foot skin when you get up early and go to bed late. If the lower limbs are ischemic, the skin color of the feet is often whitish or purple-red .

In addition, you can also press your fingers on the top of the dorsum of the foot and two fingers below the ankle to feel whether the dorsalis pedis artery is pulsating.

Under normal circumstances, you can feel your pulse beating. If you cannot feel the dorsalis pedis artery, you should be alert to lower limb arteriosclerosis.

People with “three highs” or middle-aged and elderly people with a long history of smoking should be especially vigilant.

If "intermittent claudication" has already occurred , you should be more alert to the occurrence of lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans and seek medical attention promptly.

Angiography is the "gold standard" for diagnosing lower extremity arteriosclerosis obliterans , and can accurately show the location, degree, collateral circulation, and hemodynamic changes of vascular stenosis/occlusion in lower extremity arteriosclerosis obliterans.

How to prevent lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans?

1. Promote a healthy lifestyle: change bad eating habits, eat a light, low-salt, and low-fat diet, eat more foods rich in vitamins, and avoid the intake of high-sugar and high-fat foods.

At the same time, you should quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption to maintain physical and mental happiness.

2. Adhere to moderate fitness exercises: Proper exercise is very important for preventing and treating lower limb artery stenosis and occlusion.

It is necessary to give the ischemic lower limbs a certain amount of exercise load, but at the same time, the degree should be such that no calf pain symptoms occur.

3. Actively treat the primary disease: control hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes, improve the hypercoagulable state, and truly eliminate the progression of arteriosclerosis from the source.

4. Go to the hospital for regular check-ups: Pay attention to changes in the distance of pain after activities, changes in toe skin color, etc., and go to the hospital for regular check-ups and follow-ups.

References:

[1] Liu Changwei, Chen Yu. Beware of the "killers" of lower limb health[J]. Family Medicine, 2013, 10:18.

[2] Qi Guangyu. If the lower limbs are cold and cannot be warmed, check the blood vessels [J]. Medicine and Health Care, 2011, 10:11.

[3] Li Guihua and Zhang Xinqing, ABCs of Atherosclerosis that Ordinary People Should Know [M]. Shanghai Science and Technology Education Press. 2017.