It may not be your age catching up with you after all. It could be Peripheral Arterial Disease, or P-A-D, that is slowing you down. Patients with this disease often feel like they can’t walk any more than 50 feet without sitting down. 

It can cause a very bad burning sensation in the calves of your legs. When you have P-A-D, the blood flow throughout the body can be cut off, just like the blood flow in a heart attack patient is cut off by plaque.

P-A-D is treated now with a balloon or stent, but for some patients the plaque is too hard, or there's too much of it. Until now, these patients would face invasive surgery … or worse. Patients must have something done. Otherwise, they're at risk of losing that limb.

The F-D-A has just approved this -- a vibrating catheter that gives doctors another tool to help patients who are running out of options. The catheter works like a miniature jack hammer inside the blood vessel, and it comes up against an inclusion and then it starts vibrating. Through its vibrations, it's able to slowly burrow a hole. Sensors detect tissue. So even though the vibrating catheter is strong enough to break through plaster, it won't go through tissue. It breaks up the particles into very, very microscopic particles, as small as a red blood cell.

Once the catheter is through, doctors will use angioplasty or a stent to keep the artery open.

Often times, we would have to just abandon that case and actually perform a bypass operation. Recovery time is just a day and for some patients, this could be one way to help stop the pain and get moving again!

The vibrating catheter was just approved by the F-D-A for use in the legs. The next step is to get it approved for other arteries. Doctors in Europe are already using this procedure successfully in the heart.

ABOUT PAD: Peripheral arterial (PAD) disease is a condition that affects about ten million people in the . It often leads to severe blockage in the arteries, particularly in the lower leg. Such blockages reduce blood flow to the legs and feet, increasing the risk of infection, leg ulcers, gangrene and amputation. Those with PAD are also more at risk for other cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and stroke.

ABOUT STROKES: The brain is made up of living cells that require a constant supply of nutrient- and oxygen-rich blood. Blockage or rupture of the blood vessels that supply parts of the brain cause most strokes. A stroke occurs when brain tissue is deprived of blood and brain cells die from lack of oxygen. Depending on which area of the brain is affected, a stroke can cause vision problems, speech problems, disability, even death. Traditionally, treatment for stroke-causing diseases involves blood-thinning drugs to prevent clots, but for patients with severe blockage, this may not be sufficient. Some temporary blockages last only minutes or hours, resulting in mini-strokes. Mini-strokes are a sign of a serious problem and can lead to a permanent stroke if left untreated.

WHAT CAUSES HEART ATTACKS: Heart attack is the leading cause of death in North and South America and in Europe . It is usually the result of prolonged hardening and narrowing of the arteries that direct blood into the heart. When blood vessels are healthy, oxygen-rich blood flows easily to all the muscles and organs of the body; but if they become clogged by the buildup of fatty deposits on vessel walls, blood can be cut off, killing heart muscle cells. This is called coronary heart disease, and it can lead to heart attacks or strokes.

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