Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Center Raises Awareness of Peripheral Arterial Disease

Peripheral Arterial Disease , opens new tab(PAD) narrows leg arteries, reduces blood flow and affects between 8 and 12 million people in the U.S. While the majority of people with the condition don’t know they have it, they have the same five-year mortality rate as those with breast and colorectal cancer.

The North Kansas City Hospital Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Center, opens new tab, a member of the Healogics™ network, treats chronic wounds with underlying conditions of the disease as well as performs non-invasive tests for PAD and counsels patients on how to manage the illness which can, if left untreated, lead to lower limb amputation and death.

"For Americans over the age of 50, five percent (one out of 20) has PAD - making it six times more likely they will die within 10 years of a heart attack or stroke,” explains Kimberly Bellof, Program Director. "PAD often has no symptoms so it is important that people be aware of factors that put them at risk."

In addition to chronic wounds on the toes, feet or legs, the experts at North Kansas City Hospital Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Center give the following risk factors and symptoms of PAD:

• Those who smoke or have a history of smoking have up to four times greater risk
• African-Americans are more than twice as likely as Caucasians to have PAD
• One in every three diabetics over the age of 50 is likely to have the disease
• People with high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol or a personal history of vascular disease, heart attack, or stroke are at greater risk
• As you get older the risk increases since the disease develops gradually
• While some people dismiss it as a sign of aging, nearly everyone with PAD is unable to walk as fast or as far as they could before
• A typical sign is experiencing fatigue or a heaviness in the limbs or cramping in the buttocks, thigh or calf after walking or climbing stairs and then feeling better after resting
• Leg or foot pain may cause trouble sleeping for those with PAD
• The skin of the feet may change color and become pale or turn blue
• Toenails that do not grow as well as before and decreased hair growth on the toes and legs may be another symptom

North Kansas City Hospital Wound Healing & Hyperbaric offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy to increase the blood flow and reintroduce the body's innate ability to heal. Other treatments may include making lifestyle changes to modify diet or add an exercise regimen, physical therapy, medications and, in extreme cases, surgery may be needed.

For more information on managing PAD and treating chronic or infected wounds, contact North Kansas City Hospital Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Center (816) 691-5055 or 2790 Clay Edwards Dr. 11^th Floor, North Kansas City, MO 64116.

About North Kansas City Hospital: For 55 years, North Kansas City Hospital has been at the forefront of providing medical care in the Northland. The Hospital is an acute-care facility with 451-licensed beds with specialties in cardiac care, oncology, women’s health, orthopedics and emergency services. They provide a full continuum of care from the highest level of neonatal intensive care to award-winning cardiovascular and orthopedic programs to home health and hospice. The medical staff includes over 550 physicians representing 49 medical specialties. North Kansas City Hospital is the first hospital in Missouri and one of only a few hospitals in the country to receive the Mission: Lifeline Heart Attack Receiving Center accreditation from the American Heart Association. In addition, the Hospital is an accredited Level III Chest Pain Center by the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care, a major trauma center for emergency care and rated as one of the busiest adult/pediatric emergency departments in Kansas City. For more information, contact North Kansas City Hospital at 2800 Clay Edwards Dr., North Kansas City, MO 64116, on the web at nkch.org, at 816-691-2000 or follow the Hospital on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.