Patients with diabetic vascular disease have increased chances to develop blockages in their arteries secondary to peripheral vascular disease.

These blockages can be serious and result in foot sores, pain in legs when walking, loss of feeling or a burning feeling in their feet or even gangrene.

Vascular surgeons are experts in treating diabetic vascular disease. They want patients to know that there are preventive measures patients can take to avoid these severe consequences of the disease.

Patients should stop smoking and control their blood sugar levels, blood pressure and lipid levels with diet, exercise and medication.

When blockages do develop, vascular surgeons can perform noninvasive treatments using balloon catheters (angioplasty and/or stents) or open surgical reconstruction to bypass the blockage in the arteries to save the patient’s leg. They do amputations only when all attempts at limb salvage are exhausted.

To learn more about vascular disease and find a vascular specialist, visit www.VascularWeb.org.

This story provided by North American Precis Syndicate Inc.