Poor blood circulation
Poor blood circulation is a common and wide spread problem, affecting over eight to twelve million people. The medical term for this disease is Critical Limb Ischemia or CLI. If left unattended the disease can progress to the point where every step taken is an exercise in pain and torture. But one may ask, what causes one to end up in such a debilitating condition? The causes could be for multiple reasons. But the end results remain the same. The results are a buildup of plaque and other obstructive materials in the blood vessels and veins. The veins are weakened and the surrounding tissue becomes nutrient starved. Some of the problems can be attributed to our modern day lifestyle. A lifestyle filled with junk food from a poor nutritional intake. Also our diets are filled with high fat and low fiber. A sedentary lifestyle involving little or no activity makes for all kinds of health complications. And again, some things are just hereditary. My mother for example, was type I diabetic. Her mother and all her siblings were afflicted with diabetes at a very young age. She also died from Critical Limb Ischemia complications, due to her diabetes. She contracted gangrene in her right leg and by the time it was discovered it was too late. ( see my blog: Prostate cancer awareness ) Those whose conditions have advanced to this critical stage will not be able to improve the problem on its own, unfortunately. They must seek medical treatment.
Most Common Symptom
What are some of the suspect symptoms? Any continuing pain or cramping can be seen as a cause of the disease. Difficulty when walking also is a cause of poor blood circulation. I had calve and leg cramps about once a month. It gradually became an unbearable all night event. That is when I discovered I had diabetes among other things. Checkups are a necessity. Also I became interested in this subject, because I had an accident back in 1969 as a worker at Walgreen warehouse in Houston. A heavy box fell on my left leg, at the calf, and broken the skin and it never healed. Thas was despite all kinds of medical . treatment and antibiotics, it simply would not heal. When I discovered I had diabetes in 2004 and started taking diabetic medicine, only then did it heal. Just imagine, I had this problem for over a period of 34 years. I did not have diabetes at the time in 1969, but my guess is that just a little elevated glucose could affect your blood circulation.
Warnings
Poor blood circulation can result in sores and cuts that do not heal properly. They may become infected. Ulcers can develop on the feet and toes and healing becomes difficult because the tissue does not receive oxygen and other nutrients. This is very evident in the elderly. Here is a personal word of advice: Examine your elderly parents lower legs and feet at least once a week, if not more often. This is especially true if they are diabetic. Check for signs of discoloration, bruises, sores or cuts. Do a thorough examination of the feet and toes. Often the elderly will not feel any changes in there bodies or suspect anything, They may be unaware they are having problems. And often times they are unable to do a self examination. This is where you or a medical personnel comes in. Again, if left unattended these sores can eventually lead to gangrene as mentioned above.
The Medical Breakthrough
However, there is now hope on the horizon for this deadly and debilitating disease. Current treatments only include rehabilitative exercises and inserting invasive surgical bypass blood vessels. Scientist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered a genetic switch that can increase the number of blood vessels in the skeletal muscle of mice.Thus increased blood flow is restored without exercise or surgery.
There are two types of skeletal muscle fibers. Slow twitching fibers that has a dense supply of blood vessels and fast twitching ones that has fewer blood vessels. The researchers use a estrogen related receptor that when activated in mice, convert fast fibers into slow twitching fibers. Lead PH.D. researcher Vihang Narkar At The University of Texas Medical School, said, ” This resulted in a striking increase in muscle blood supply as measured by imaging and angiography”.
This research will not only lead to a cure for critical limb ischemia, but holds out hope for other conditions linked to defective or poor blood flow supply. This is good news for heart disease patients and others whose conditions are caused by a blood flow related problem. These findings were published in the Medical Journal Cell Metabolism
