Ask the Expert: Venous and arterial disorders

Arteries, veins and other blood vessels are considered essential to our body's survival. This vascular, or circulatory, system is intricate and sophisticated - with the smallest blood vessel measuring three times smaller than the human hair, but if you take out all of the blood vessels from an average adult human, the line would stretch over 100,000 miles long, so they are both small and mighty.

But with so many things working to keep us energized and our heart pumping precious blood, there's always the apprehension that something could go wrong. There are many common venous disorders that may affect us in our lifetime, and those are what we want to get into today.

What is the difference between Venous and Arterial disorders?

The main difference is the type of blood vessel involved. Venous disorders involve your veins, or the blood vessels that return blood to your heart in order to be re-oxygenated. Arterial disorders involve your arteries, the blood vessels that deliver that re-oxygenated blood from your heart to the rest of the body. Both of these disorders involve blood and how it is moved around the body, so any kind of interruption to this blood flow can be felt by the individual experiencing the issue.

What are common venous disorders?

Most venous disorders typically can be felt in your legs, with the most common being chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). The tiny veins in your legs are designed with one-way valves that work to do one thing - keep blood flowing back to your heart. If you think about where your legs are in vs. where your heart is, this means that half of their job is having them work against gravity and for such a long distance that a blockage or malfunction can lead to an aching pain in your legs, chronic leg swelling - especially while standing, varicose veins, ulcers or changes in the temperature and tightness in your skin.

What are common arterial disorders?

The most common arterial disorder is Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). This disease occurs when the arteries that lead to your legs become blocked or narrowed by fatty deposits, known as atherosclerosis, that can compromise the circulation in your legs as not enough oxygen rich blood is getting to your lower extremities. This can cause pain in your legs - especially when you're active, weakness in the legs, leg-hair loss, pale, shiny, smooth, and dry skin on your legs, and temperature changes in your toes and/or feet.

How are these disorders treated?

The first thing that always needs to be done is to figure out exactly what is going on. With different vessels performing different jobs, it's important to figure out which specific group is the culprit when it comes to your discomfort. After you are correctly diagnosed, it is time to talk treatment. Our newly integrated team of Interventional Radiologists, Interventional Cardiologists and Vascular Surgeons are all equipped to handle the treatment of your condition and it is up to us to figure out the necessary lifestyle changes, or the best procedure, needed for you to experience improved blood flow.

What are some lifestyle changes I can make to help my vascular system function at it's best?

A lot of the advice you will hear below may sound like a broken record for a lot of disease and disorder prevention, but it begs to be shared again:

• Lose weight/maintain a healthy weight

• Lower your cholesterol and blood pressure

• Quit smoking

• Exercise more

The more you can do to help your body function better all over, the better your health will be no matter that vital system we are discussing.

Any more information you want to share?

If you are experiencing pain in your lower extremities that you believe may be due to a venous or arterial disorder, contact your primary care physician so that we can get the ball rolling on getting you back onto your no-longer-aching feet!

Visit our website for more information on the medical services we provide.

Dr. Jamison L. Wilson, MD, is an Interventional Radiologist with IU Health Ball Memorial Physicians, and is one of the seven highly skilled physicians on the Peripheral Vascular Services team in Muncie.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ask the Expert: Venous and arterial disorders