Daily Walks Can Treat Clogged Leg Arteries

Daily Walks Can Treat Clogged Leg Arteries
(Shutterstock*)
6/17/2014
Updated:
6/17/2014

People with peripheral artery disease (PAD) are able to move faster and go farther if they make walking part of their daily routine at home, researchers say.

“The problem with supervised exercise is that it takes many visits to a cardiac rehabilitation center or other exercise facility, and it’s not covered by most medical insurance companies, including Medicare,” says Mary McGrae McDermott, professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

“These results should encourage physicians to recommend walking even if their patients do not have access to a supervised exercise program.”

PAD affects one in 20 Americans older than 50 and develops when arteries become narrowed and clogged, reducing blood flow to the legs. Previous studies have shown that supervised exercise can improve walking and lessen the symptoms of PAD, but this is the first to document the long-term benefits of a home-based walking program.

Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the study compared walking ability in patients and controls one year after the end of a six-month program that encouraged home-based walking. For the first six months, patients participated in weekly meetings to provide support and skills training to help them adhere to the home exercise program. They also received phone calls to encourage continued walking during months seven through 12.

Increased Distance

At 12 months, participants in the home-based program had increased the distance they could walk in six minutes from 355.4 to 381.9 meters, an improvement of about 87 feet. In contrast, the distance covered by the controls fell slightly, from 353.1 to 345.6 meters.

The control group participated for a year in weekly educational meetings and received phone contact on unrelated PAD topics such as managing hypertension, cancer screening, and vaccinations, but did not take part in the home exercise program.

Walking is the most effective non-invasive treatment for PAD, but a program must take into account that walking may cause a cramp-like pain in leg muscles that don’t get sufficient oxygen. By alternating walking and rest, patients can build up the amount of time they can walk before pain occurs. In this study, patients built up to 50 minutes of walking.

“The results emphasize the importance of recognizing and treating PAD, a common condition that often remains undiagnosed and can become life-threatening as it restricts circulation to the legs,” McDermott says. “Patients with PAD are also at heightened risk for heart attack and stroke.”

“Don’t think walking problems are a normal part of aging,” McDermott says. “If you have leg pain, weakness, tingling or other difficulty walking, report it to your doctor and ask about the possibility you may have PAD. Diagnosing PAD is important because therapies can improve your health.”

The National Institutes of Health funded the study.

Source: Northwestern UniversityRepublished from Futurity.org under Creative Commons License 3.0.

*Image of “walking“ via Shutterstock

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