Poor Circulation

Both veins and arteries play a crucial role in maintaining proper blood flow and overall circulatory system health, which is essential to prevent poor circulation. The arteries bring the oxygenated blood from our heart to the rest of the body, while the veins carry the deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Our hearts pump the blood through the arteries.  The heart, however, does not assist blood movement through the veins. That has the biggest impact on our legs obviously due to erect position of humans. That is why appropriate flow of venous blood in our legs, more than anywhere else in the body, is so dependent on proper function of venous valves.

The pathological conditions affecting our arteries, mostly arterial atherosclerosis, are well-understood by healthcare professionals and generally are well-accepted by the general public. The basic idea behind the above is the fact that fatty deposits inside the arteries, called “atherosclerosis”, make them narrower, or “stenotic”. As a sequence, reduced amount of the oxygenated “fresh” arterial blood is being brought from the heart to our organs. Such process in the heart will cause a heart attack, in the brain it often results in a stroke, while atherosclerosis of the leg arteries can be complicated by trophic ulcers and even gangrene. Naturally, the treatment revolves around improvement of the flow by either making the arteries wider or rerouting blood around such narrowings by means of placing either a stent or a bypass correspondingly.

In contrast, poor circulation related to venous disease occurs when the veins dilate and fail to efficiently transport deoxygenated blood from the extremities back to the heart. This condition, often referred to as venous insufficiency or venous incompetence, can lead to symptoms such as leg pain and varicose veins. This disease is known under different names, including venous insufficiency, venous incompetence, venous stasis vasculopathy, peripheral venous hypertension and many others.

It is important to understand that both arterial disease and venous disease, common causes of poor circulation, are more prevalent than many people realize. Conditions such as peripheral artery disease (PAD) and chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) can significantly impact vascular health and lead to serious complications if left untreated. Peripheral artery disease, or PAD, affects approximately 8 million Americans and may have symptoms such as pain while walking or resting. PAD can be treated if it is discovered, but can be very dangerous if not treated because it can lead to gangrene and limb loss, and can be associated with heart attack and stroke.