Understand the risk factors for vascular disease
Dr. Arash Keyhani and Dr. Kourosh Keyhani are assistant professors with the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and are vascular surgeons affiliated with Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center and Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital.
Everyone is at risk for vascular disease, and with Nov. 9 being National Diabetes Heart Connection Day, it’s important to understand the symptoms, risk factors and treatment options, especially for those with diabetes. Twin brother vascular surgeons, Dr. Arash Keyhani and Dr. Kourosh Keyhani, unpack what you need to know about vascular disorders to help assess their potential risk factors.
Q: What is vascular disease?
A: Vascular disease is an abnorand mal condition that impacts your blood vessels, including veins and arteries, which circulate blood through your body. Issues with blood vessels can cause detrimental effects if not treated quickly and properly, including disability and even death. Vascular disease includes a range of artery diseases and blood disorders, but the most common ones we treat are peripheral artery disease (PAD), carotid artery disease, aortic disease, venous disease, aortic dissections and aortic aneurysms. If your blood vessels are damaged from such conditions, it could result in stroke, heart attack, leg pain, high blood pressure, limb loss and kidney failure.
Risk factors for vascular disease include diabetes, smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and family history of vascular disease and/or diabetes. Vascular disease also affects men and women equally. While vascular disorders typically appear in older populations starting at age 50, younger patients experiencing these risk factors can also be impacted. In fact, atherosclerosis can begin in adolescence, which is the build-up of fats, cholesterol, and other substances on the artery walls – causing blockages to blood flow.
If you have any of these risk factors, the most important thing to do is keep up with your primary care appointments so your physician can keep an eye out for any signals related to your vascular health. However, if you feel pulses in your feet or if your pulse is faint generally, call your doctor or a vascular specialist as soon as possible. Having calf pain, foot pain or leg pain at night or while walking are also symptoms of a vascular condition. If you have wounds or ulcers that aren’t healing, that might mean there’s a lack of blood flow, which is another warning sign.
Q: Why are people with diabetes more at risk for vascular disease?
A: People with diabetes are particularly at risk for vascular disease if there is too much glucose in the blood. As a result, they often have poor circulation, and when diabetes is uncontrolled, it can cause major damage to blood vessels over time. Diabetes plays a large role in vascular conditions like PAD as well. Many people don’t know that they have diabetes until something happens, like a wound or infection. If a patient has a wound on their lower leg or foot that isn’t healing, they should talk with their doctor about the potential cause, especially if they are diabetic. If not treated, the wound could get infected and/or lead to limb loss.
If you have a family history of diabetes or if you’re experiencing symptoms of diabetes, such as frequent urination, constant thirst and hunger, or fatigue, it’s important that you maintain your regular check-ups to get screened. Overall, the longer you wait to get treated, the worse the complications from diabetes and damaged blood vessels can become.
Q: Where should I get treated for vascular disease?
A: At Memorial Hermann, we see a high number of patients requiring vascular care given the prevalence of diabetes, obesity smoking in the Houston area, so we are well-equipped to treat vascular conditions. Our hospitals have multidisciplinary physician teams dedicated to taking care of vascular patients, including specialists in vascular health, wound care, podiatry, diabetes, nutrition and more.
We’re also highly experienced in treating complex cases with innovative and non-invasive procedures, with a focus on limb salvage, restoring blood flow to save limbs and lives. We’re able to revascularize, or reopen, blocked blood vessels, in addition to using deep venous arterialization, which is the latest technology that only a few hospitals use in the U.S. Many of our patients come to us for a second or third opinion on limb salvage knowing that we have many tools at our disposal to ensure we’re doing everything we can to intervene. This is one of the reasons we both became interested in vascular surgery. Our father had PAD, and because of the vascular surgery he received, he was able to live a longer and fuller life.
Want to discuss your concerns with a vascular specialist? Learn about Memorial Hermann’s comprehensive heart and vascular program by visiting memorialhermann.org/heart