September marks Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Awareness Month.
Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (CSI) (NASDAQ: CSII), has launched a
public awareness and patient advocacy program, Take A Stand Against
Amputation, to provide education about the disease and treatment
options.
Up to a staggering 18 million Americans1 suffer from this
potentially life-threatening disease. According to the American
Heart Association, PAD patients have a six to seven times greater
risk of coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke than the
rest of the population. If left untreated, those who suffer from
PAD are at risk of serious consequences. In fact, each year 160,000
to 180,000 Americans undergo amputation of a limb as a result of
complications associated with peripheral artery disease (PAD)2.
Of those suffering from PAD, up to 3.5 million have progressed
to critical limb ischemia (CLI)3, the most severe and potentially
deadly form of PAD, where the blood vessels become dangerously
narrow, leading to pain at rest, open sores on toes and feet, or
gangrene. If left untreated, this can lead to amputation of toes, a
foot or even a leg. Despite the severity of PAD, many Americans are
not familiar with it, making it a large and growing problem in the
United States.
CSI wants to raise awareness of Peripheral Artery Disease. Early
screening and treatment are crucial. This program also focuses on
increasing awareness of CLI, the advanced stages of PAD, which puts
people at high risk of amputation, and stresses that there are
treatment options. CSI’s goal with this program is to raise
awareness and reduce the number of amputations to under 100,000
within three years. The Take A Stand Against Amputation website,
www.StandAgainstAmputation.com, contains information about PAD and
CLI for people with PAD, those who are concerned they may have PAD,
and their families and caregivers. The website also contains
materials physicians can use to educate people about the
disease.
During PAD Awareness Month and year-round, CSI encourages the
public and physicians to take advantage of the educational
resources to learn more about this dangerous disease—the risk
factors, the symptoms and the treatment options—in order to help
save limbs. With a proper diagnosis and treatment plan, most people
can manage the symptoms of PAD, with their doctor’s help, to avoid
the worst complications, such as amputation.
One in 20 Americans over the age of 50 has PAD4, and among
adults age 65 and older, 12 to 20 percent may have PAD5. Smoking,
the single greatest risk factor, increases the chance of developing
PAD three to five times. But other common risk factors include
diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels and
heart disease6. In fact, one in three people over the age of 50
with diabetes has PAD7. Those people with diabetes and PAD have a
ten times greater risk of amputation than people without
diabetes7.
“Considering the high number of people who suffer from PAD and
the seriousness of its effects, this disease is disturbingly
overlooked,” said Mary Yost, President/Co-Founder of THE SAGE
GROUP, a leading PAD research consulting firm. “People should be
aware of the risks, and talk to a physician if they think they may
have PAD.”
The symptoms of PAD can often be mistaken for symptoms of aging
by those suffering from the disease, which may allow the disease to
progress to a more severe state before it is diagnosed. The most
common symptoms are:
- Leg pain that occurs when walking or
exercising and disappears when the activity stops
- Leg muscle tiredness, heaviness, or
cramping
- Leg and/or foot pain that disturbs
sleep
- One leg/foot feels cooler than the
other
- Toes or feet that look pale, discolored
or blue
- Thick or yellow toenails that aren’t
growing
- Sores/wounds on toes, feet or legs that
heal slowly, or not at all (more associated with CLI)
PAD is a serious condition for which early diagnosis and
treatment are very important. The good news is there are treatment
options for PAD that your doctor can prescribe to help you reclaim
your quality of life. Treatment options can include lifestyle
adjustments, such as quitting smoking and eating healthier; as well
as medications for many people with PAD. In more severe cases,
procedures including minimally invasive vascular procedures or
bypass surgery may be necessary to restore blood flow to the feet
to help prevent an amputation.
Dr. Bryan Fisher, a vascular surgeon from Tri-Star Centennial
Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said PAD Awareness Month
presents an opportunity to ensure that patients know they have
treatment options.
“If someone receives a diagnosis of PAD or CLI and the
recommended treatment is amputation, they should ask for a second
opinion,” said Dr. Fisher. “There have been important advances that
enable more treatment options that may prevent the need for
amputation, or at least lessen the impact.”
Dr. Fisher also encourages other physicians—especially primary
care physicians, podiatrists and wound care specialists—to become
educated about these new treatment options. These healthcare
professionals are often the first to learn about or see first-hand
the symptoms of PAD.
“These healthcare professionals can find specialists in their
area who can help them deliver improved outcomes for their
patients,” Dr. Fisher said. “This disease can have a serious impact
on the quality of people’s lives, and appropriate treatment can
help them get back to living more fulfilling lives.”
Talk with a doctor if you think you may be at risk. And for more
information, visit www.StandAgainstAmputation.com.
References:1) Schiavetta A, et al. Stem Cells
Translational Medicine. 2012; 1:572-578. and Sage Report 2010; 2)
Allie et al. J Endovasc Ther. 2009 Feb; 16 Suppl 1:134-46; 3)
Schiavetta A, et al. Stem Cells Translational Medicine. 2012;
1:572-578. And Sage Report 2010; 4) Stay in Circulation. Peripheral
Artery Disease.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
(NIH)http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/pad/. Accessed
09Mar2016; 5) Mahameed, AJ. Peripheral Arterial Disease. From the
Cleveland Clinic Foundation Center for Continuing Education Disease
Management series, January, 2009.
http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/cardiology/peripheral-arterial-disease/;
6) Joosten MM, Pai JK, Bertoia ML, et al. Associations Between
Conventional Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Risk of Peripheral
Artery Disease in Men. JAMA 2012;308(16):1660-1667; 7) Living With
Diabetes. Peripheral Arterial Disease. American Diabetes
Association
Website.http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/complications/heart-disease/peripheral-arterial-disease.html?loc=foot-complication.
Accessed 09Mar2016.; 8) 12.Graziani L, Piaggesi A. Indications and
Clinical Outcomes for Below Knee Endovascular Therapy: Review
Article. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions. 2010;
75:433–443.
About Cardiovascular Systems, Inc.
Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., based in St. Paul, Minn., is a
medical device company focused on developing and commercializing
innovative solutions for treating vascular and coronary disease.
The company’s Orbital Atherectomy Systems treat calcified and
fibrotic plaque in arterial vessels throughout the leg and heart in
a few minutes of treatment time, and address many of the
limitations associated with existing surgical, catheter and
pharmacological treatment alternatives. The U.S. FDA granted 510(k)
clearance for the use of the Diamondback Orbital Atherectomy System
in peripheral arteries in August 2007. In October 2013, the company
received FDA approval for the use of the Diamondback Orbital
Atherectomy System in coronary arteries. The Stealth 360®
Peripheral Orbital Atherectomy System (OAS) received CE Mark in
October 2014. To date, over 260,000 of CSI’s devices have been sold
to leading institutions across the United States. For more
information, visit the company’s website at www.csi360.com.
About Take A Stand Against Amputation
Take A Stand Against Amputation is a national, year-round
campaign supported by Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., St. Paul,
Minnesota. At its centerpiece, the campaign utilizes a
website—www.StandAgainstAmputation.com—to offer education for
people about Peripheral Artery Disease. The website includes a PAD
risk factor checklist people can use with their healthcare
professionals to help assess their risk. It also provides a tool to
help people find a physician or surgeon who specializes in the
diagnosis and treatment of PAD. For physicians, the website offers
free education tools they can download, print and distribute to
their patients.
About PAD Awareness Month
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s National Heart, Lung
and Blood Institute (NHLBI) created PAD Awareness Month to educate
people about the disease. For more information, visit
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/pad or
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/pad/.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160901005361/en/
Cardiovascular Systems, Inc.Mark Sullivan,
651-900-7077msullivan@csi360.comorPadillaCRTMatt Sullivan,
612-455-1709matt.sullivan@padillacrt.com
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