Overview
- Intermittent claudication—pain, limping or cramping in the legs when walking—can indicate peripheral arterial disease.
- About one in five people over 60 in the UK have some degree of this condition, according to BHF‑linked clinicians.
- People with intermittent claudication face an estimated three‑ to five‑times higher risk of heart attack.
- Smoking, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure raise the likelihood of PAD, with rising diabetes contributing to more cases.
- Doctors recommend GP assessment, stopping smoking, checking and treating blood pressure and diabetes, and considering aspirin and a statin, noting severe PAD can progress to gangrene or amputation.