Archives: April 2023
Restarting Exercise Habits After Years of a Sedentary Lifestyle
It happens to the best of us. We have great hopes and expectations for our exercise program, swearing that we will hit the gym daily but ultimately feeling dejected at what we consider a failure of motivation leading back to the couch. If this describes the past several years of your life, you are most certainly not alone. Starting an exercise program after months or even years of sitting on the sidelines can be daunting, mainly because it’s the most challenging right at the beginning when you must push yourself and feel a little pain to get the gain. This might be further complicated by any heart health issues, which may scare you into believing that exercise will cause your heart to overload or somehow shut down.
Does Peripheral Artery Disease Mean That Coronary Problems Are Imminent?
There are several apparent symptoms of coronary artery disease that virtually all of us understand and should not be ignored. Chief among them is angina or chest pain, often a warning sign of an impending heart attack – caused by the blockage of arteries that feed the heart. However, many patients experience a phenomenon known as peripheral artery disease, or PAD, a far less known condition that involves partial occlusion of the arteries in the extremities – the hands and the legs.
Peripheral artery disease comes in several stages, the first being relatively mild. Patients often don’t experience significant problems but may feel pain in their legs or arms during exercise. This is because as the blood flow to the extremities increases, the arteries can’t deliver enough blood (due to blockage), leading to an oxygen deficiency. In the later stages of PAD, more significant symptoms may occur. This can include cold, shiny skin, loss of hair in the extremity, pain in the extremities, even at rest, and more.