Poor Circulation

High blood sugars increase the risk of a blood vessel disease called Peripheral Vascular Disease (or PVD).
In PVD, the vessels that carry blood outside the heart and brain become narrowed or clogged. This leads to poor circulation. While this poor blood flow can affect the arms or the kidney, it occurs more in the legs and feet. In diabetes, the most common cause of poor blood flow is atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

Symptoms of PVD
A common sign of poor blood flow is cramping in the thighs, hips or calves when walking. As a rule, this pain goes away at rest. This occurs because not enough blood flows to the leg muscles during exercise. Other symptoms are:

• Cold hands or feet
• Loss of hair to the lower legs
• Change in the skin color in the legs or feet, and paleness when the foot is raised.
• Dry, fragile and shiny skin in the feet and legs
• Slow healing of sores or wounds in the hands, legs or feet. In the face of poor blood flow, wounds and sores can become so severe that tissue death (gangrene) occurs. This may lead to the need for amputation (removal of the toe, foot or leg).

You can prevent poor blood flow. Here's how:

• Keep your blood sugars under good control. Aim for blood sugars of 80mg/dl-120 md/dl before meals, and 100 mg/dl-140 mg/dl at bedtime.
• Keep your hemoglobin A1c at 7% or less.
• Don't smoke
• Eat a healthy diet
• Exercise most days
• Work with your health care team to control cholesterol and blood pressure.

Questions?
If you have further questions about peripheral vascular disease, contact your diabetes healthcare team.

 Continue