The Anatomy of PAD

There are more than 60,000 miles of blood vessels crisscrossing the human body. Your arteries carry blood rich in oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body through this vast circulatory system. When the arteries in your legs become blocked, your legs do not receive enough blood or oxygen, and you may have a condition called Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD).

The aorta is the largest artery in your body, and it carries blood away from the heart to the rest of your body.  The aorta runs from your heart down to your abdomen, and just below your waistline the aorta separates into two iliac (ill-ee-ack) arteries.  The right and left iliac arteries carry blood to your legs. As the iliac artery enters into the groin and thigh area it branches off into femoral (femmor-ul) arteries. The main or superficial femoral artery continues to go down the leg to behind the knee.  At this point, it tapers into a smaller artery called the popliteal (pop-lih-teal) artery. As it proceeds down the leg, the popliteal artery branches off at the top of the calf area into smaller arteries called the tibial (tib-ee-ull) arteries. The tibial arteries provide blood to the smaller arteries of the feet and toes.

A Hard Look at Atherosclerosis

Your arteries are normally smooth and unobstructed on the inside but, as you age, they can become blocked through a process called atherosclerosis (plaque), which often is called “hardening of the arteries”. Over time plaque builds up in the walls of your arteries. Plaque is made up of cholesterol, calcium, and fibrous tissue. As more plaque builds up, your arteries narrow and blood flow becomes slower or non-existent. Eventually, enough plaque builds up to reduce blood flow to your leg arteries. Although symptoms may or may not be experienced in the early stages, it is important to treat this progressive disease because it may place you at a greater risk for not only losing a limb, but also having a heart attack or stroke.