Health News
Legs for Life can help prevent heart disease

BeeHealthy

Buffalo residents are encouraged to join with tens of thousands of other Americans across the country in Legs for Life, a free nationwide screening program to identify people at risk for clogged arteries in the legs, known as peripheral arterial disease.

Approximately 10 million people in the United States suffer from PAD, but most do not know it.

PAD is often an early warning sign that an individual may have or be at risk for other vascular diseases, such as coronary artery diseases, the major cause of heart attack, and carotid artery disease.

PAD is highly treatable and if diagnosed early , it often may be treated with lifestyle changes alone such as diet and exercise.

Medication and minimally invasive treatments such as angioplasty or surgery are available, depending on severity of the disease.

A Legs for Life screening will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12 at St. Joseph Hospital.

A screening will also be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26 at Buffalo General Hospital.

These phone numbers were omitted from the Bee Healthy article that appeared in the Amherst Bee on August 29.

For appointments for free PAD screenings on Sept. 12 at St. Joseph Hospital, call 447-6205 and on Sept. 26 at Buffalo General Hospital, call 859-2138.

Patients can learn more about PAD and other vascular diseases by visiting the Vascular Interventional Associates Web site at www.viabuf.com.