'vascular' posts

As the summer months creep up on us, the weather is getting warmer and shorts and swimsuits are beckoning us from the closet. For many people, this brings excitement (vacations! outdoor activities!) but for others, the thought of showing off varicose and spider veins means avoiding those summer clothes.

Though they may be painful or embarrassing, varicose and spider veins are common and can be treated. Don’t let them get in the way of your summer plans and comfort!

Varicose veins are large, raised blood vessels close to the surface of the skin. They may look bumpy or twisted. Along with their “little brothers,” spider veins, varicose veins are most often found in the legs and are caused by weak or damaged vein valves. This causes blood to pool instead of being pumped back to the heart. Women are more likely to have varicose and spider veins and this risk increases with age and hormone changes (like pregnancy and menopause).

What you can do:

Ah, spring in the Puget Sound region. Visions of warm days, shorts and skirts and being self-conscious about varicose veins may be dancing in your head. Is there anything you can do?

Some of us wear shorts and skirts anyway, ignoring furtive glances or curious comments, while others just hide their veins under hose or pants. A third option is available: treatment.

Whether you’ve got little red, flat spider veins, big, blue bulging varicose veins, or something in between, you’ve got the same problem – just of a different magnitude. Spider veins and varicose veins occur in the legs when the one-way valves in the blood vessels no longer work right, which lets blood collect in the veins instead of flowing back to the heart. This makes the veins widen, often becoming unsightly and uncomfortable. Most commonly varicose veins near the skin surface are caused by leaky valves in veins deeper in the leg. Untreated, varicose veins typically worsen over time.

To improve the appearance of your legs...

A couple of months ago the New York Times published an interesting article summarizing recent findings of researchers who performed CT scans on mummies from Egypt, Peru, the Aleutian Islands and the American Southwest. One of the striking findings was that 38 percent of Egyptian mummies and 29 percent of all other mummies had definite or probable evidence of hardening of the arteries. The incidence was higher in mummies of people of 40 years or older. The geography and diets for the mummies varied greatly and yet the rates of calcified arteries were fairly similar.

What you should know about atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries:

Hardening of the arteries (also known as atherosclerosis) is a disease that has been strongly associated with multiple risk factors. The risk factors in addition to age include smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension. Many of these risk factors are associated with diets that are high in saturated fats or complex carbohydrates and thus to connect this study to modern times is not easy...

SEATTLE, Feb. 6, 2013 - Screenings for cancer, high blood pressure and cholesterol are probably on your doctor visit checklist. Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) probably should be, too, but many doctors don’t know about it. Vascular surgeons from Swedish are hosting a free community health education class about this silent killer and whether this important screening is right for you. The 90-minute program will be at Swedish/Ballard (5300 Tallman Ave. N.W.) on Saturday, Feb. 9 from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.