Smoking can lead to leg amputations; Serious research here

Around 25 British people are having legs amputated every day due to Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) - a "cruel" disease linked to smoking.

Smokers are being urged to quit the habit as a report shows that a million adults - 90% of whom are smokers or ex-smokers - may be living with PAD. Around half a million have been diagnosed with it, but a top surgeon warns the actual number could be twice as high.

Ten million UK adults smoke - which is around 18%. Experts say quitting is the single best thing you can do for your health.

According to the British Heart Foundation, PAD happens when there is a build up of fatty deposits in the walls of the leg arteries. If that happens it can restrict the blood supply to the legs. If you have PAD you are at a much higher risk of developing serious forms of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and stroke. This is because it is likely that blood vessels elsewhere in the body are also affected.

If the symptoms are left untreated - and PAD is very difficult to recognise, and only normally diagnosed when something serious happens - the leg tissue may begin to die. This itself causes gangrene and, in its severest form. Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) - and that results in amputation in around 30% of cases.  Wow!!!  Around 9000 British people have to undergo leg amputations as a result every year, which works out to one every hour or 25 a day.  PAD mostly affects smokers.

This is what Dr Mike Knapton, the British Heart Foundation's associate medical director had to say:
"Peripheral arterial disease can lead to horrific consequences and the silent nature of the condition means that opportunities to diagnose and treat it are often missed.  We do know that stopping smoking is the single most effective way of reducing your risk of developing this potentially deadly disease. This is a great time to start your quitting journey."

HMHB says:
We are very careful at HMHB to stress that people have a responsibility to make the best choices possible to look after their body.
We also do not want to tell people what to do. We pass on knowledge, awareness and information, and individuals can make up their own mind.
However, we naturally press people to review their lifestyle and make appropriate changers - like giving yourself an MOT on a regular basis. Ask yourself, what can you do to improve yout chances of a longer, happier, and healthier life.

Every study, every expert, recommends NO SMOKING. It goes without saying. People naturally link it to lung cancer, and breathing problems. But this blog entry, om PAD, should be a wake up call to smokers too. It affects the whole body. And incredibly it is Preventable!!!!!!