A recent study suggests that smokers with narrowed blood vessels in their legs would do well to quit smoking, but many doctors may not be giving them enough support to do it.
Smoking can dramatically increase the risks of peripheral artery disease (PAD), which restricts blood flow to the extremities and can lead to mobility limitations, amputations and heart attacks. For the current study, researchers examined data on 1,272 patients in Australia, the Netherlands and the U.S. with new or worsening PAD symptoms in their legs and ankles.
Overall, one third of patients were current smokers, but fewer than one in five were referred to smoking cessation counseling and just one in 10 were prescribed a medication to help them quit.
“Patients with PAD need to be more aware of the long-term risks of smoking associated with their disease because it not only leads to worsening of their disease, but also increases their risk of losing limbs from the disease and having heart attacks and strokes. Treatments for PAD such as stents and bypass surgeries often fail if patients continue to smoke. Quitting smoking is difficult, but doing so will help halt the progression of their PAD disease and may even reverse some of these risks.” said lead study author Dr. Krishna Patel of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
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