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Cardiologists warn deep leg pain a hint for early heart attack
Certain types of leg pain may indicate an increased risk of heart attack. This is indicated by the German Heart Foundation. The experts also explain what you can do to significantly reduce the increased risk of an infarction.
Beware of pain in the calves
If you feel leg pain while walking, which quickly stops when you are standing, this may be an indication of an increased risk of heart attack. This is indicated by the German Heart Foundation on its website. According to the experts, one must be vigilant, especially with calf pain.
If you feel pain in your calves when walking, which quickly stops when you are standing, this may be an indication of an increased heart attack risk. (Image: /fotolia.com) Vascular deposits in the legs
It should also be clairaudient when it comes to pain in the toe area when lying down, especially if it is possible to achieve relief by getting up.
"Both symptoms can be a typical indication of atherosclerosis," says the foundation.
This leads to deposits at different parts of the body, which in turn lead to circulatory disorders, says Prof. Dr. med. Eike Sebastian Debus from the Clinic for Vascular Medicine at the University Heart Center Hamburg in a newsletter of the Heart Foundation.
"Even though the pain most commonly occurs in the calves in arterial calcification, other sections of the leg may be affected," said the physician.
"Depending on where the vascular deposits block the blood flow, z. As well as complaints in the thighs or in the buttocks possible. "
Affected persons have to stop again and again when walking
If the afferent blood vessels of the legs are affected by a circulatory disorder, the disease is called "peripheral arterial disease" (PAD), which is responsible in Germany for about one million people for leg pain.
In PAOD, which is also popularly referred to as a smoker's leg, the legs hurt so much even under moderate load that the sufferers have to stop again and again - therefore, the so-called intermittent claudication is mentioned.
If, on the other hand, the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle with oxygen are affected, it is called a coronary heart disease (CHD), ie the dangerous underlying disease of the heart, in which the circulatory disorders can lead to a heart attack, arrhythmia or heart failure.
Serious heart attack danger
Arteriosclerosis is usually not confined to one place in the body, but occurs in the course in other regions, the legs are often affected relatively late compared to the heart.
If there is an arteriosclerosis in the legs, there is often a clear calcification of the coronary arteries. For this reason, according to the heart foundation, the pain in the legs caused by arteriosclerosis should always be checked for the heart.
How serious the risk of heart attack is to take stress, statistical calculations, according to which 75 percent of those affected succumb to a heart attack at some point, which goes far beyond the national average.
No constant part of getting older
The experts of the German Heart Foundation point out that patients who suffer from leg pain due to arteriosclerosis should definitely mention the symptoms during the consultation and should never regard them as an invariable part of getting older.
To protect yourself from vascular calcification, you should move regularly. "Highly recommended z. For example, endurance sports, with which the development of atherosclerosis can typically be significantly slowed, "the experts write on their website.
It is also useful to give up smoking. Who leaves the fingers of cigarettes, can reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis and thus the risk of heart attack enormously.
Studies have shown that 24 months after the last cigarette, the risk of further vascular calcification no longer differs from the normal healthy population.
How to protect yourself from vascular calcification
Even a healthy diet promotes healthy vessels. Experts advise here mostly to the Mediterranean diet with a lot of vegetable oils, vegetables and fish and little animal fats from meat or butter.
Obesity should be avoided, it promotes vascular calcification in the legs.
Furthermore one should "take pressure out of the veins". This refers to the permanent lowering of blood pressure, as far as hypertension is concerned. Increased blood pressure can massively damage the blood vessels of the legs.
But how high are the blood pressure values? While until recently there was widespread consensus among medical professionals that it is not necessary to lower blood pressure until a systolic blood pressure of more than 140 mmHg, several studies conclude that 120 instead of 140 should be the new blood pressure target.
If medicines are taken to prevent atherosclerosis in order to alleviate the risk factors, mistakes should definitely be avoided, warns the German Heart Foundation.
"Often the tablets are z. B. not taken regularly enough, partly because the intake is simply forgotten, but partly also because of unpleasant side effects, "write the experts.
If it comes to side effects, you should not stop the drug independently, but clarify with the doctor, if perhaps other drugs are available. (Ad)