You Were Diagnosed with PAD. Now What?

If you’ve been diagnosed with Peripheral Artery Disease, you are not alone. 1 in every 20 Americans over the age of 50 has it. Managing your symptoms is essential to ensuring you can be healthy and active for a long time. That’s why health providers are raising awareness during PAD Awareness Month.

Health providers from the PAD Pulse Alliance developed the Patient Pathway Toolkit to help you “kick off the conversation” about PAD and know your risks. You can download it at www.padpulse.org.

Step 2 of the toolkit is for those who have been diagnosed with PAD and are wondering what happens next. PAD is a progressive disease, meaning it can get worse over time, with different levels of severity ranging from mild to severe.

The toolkit helps you understand the different stages (1 to 4) and includes questions to ask your doctor to determine your next steps, which could determine your treatment. You will also learn more about the different treatment teams that will have your back along the way, from medical management to wound care to revascularization.

Please visit www.padpulse.org for more information and share this post with anyone who you think may be at risk of PAD.

Andrew J. Klein, MD, FSCAI