The question in the title of this article is a good one, because both vein disease and arterial disease fall under the “umbrella” of vascular disease, which is any condition that impairs your circulatory system. Your arteries pump oxygenated blood and nutrients from the heart and lungs to your organs and your extremities, and your veins pump the blood back so that it can be renewed. Both healthy veins and healthy arteries are necessary for a healthy circulatory system, so any form of vascular disease is dangerous, whether it affects the veins or the arteries. Read on to hear from regarded vein doctor, Randall Juleff, MD.
However, some types of vascular disease are more dangerous than others
If a Louisiana vein doctor were to assess the relative danger of vein disease and arterial disease by counting the number of deaths, the “winner” (meaning most dangerous) is clearly arterial disease. Two of the most common causes of death worldwide are atherosclerosis (“hardening of the arteries”) and peripheral arterial disease. If arteries become blocked by either of these diseases, the result can be stroke, kidney failure, heart attack, and circulatory failure. Another arterial disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, causes the arteries in your abdomen to become enlarged, and if they rupture, there is a high risk of death. Finally, carotid artery stenosis can cause a type of “mini-stroke” that can lead to a full stroke later.
To balance this, the best vein doctors in Louisiana can assure you that there is a type of vein disease called deep vein thrombosis(DVT) that is so dangerous that over 300,000 Americans per year die from its complications.
So how do you know whether you suffer from vascular disease?
See a specialist. With either type of disease, you can’t assume that you don’t have it because you haven’t noticed any symptoms, because many vascular disease don’t have any symptoms that a layman could detect. Fortunately, the New Orleans vein specialists at La Bella Vita Laser and Vein Center can perform painless and non-invasive tests that easily determine whether you have vascular disease, and in only about an hour. If they find that you have vascular disease, they can tell you how to treat it, and if they find that you don’t have vascular disease but are at high risk for it, they can tell you how to prevent it.
Learn more about Connection between Vein Health and Heart Disease
Learn more about our Vein Center of Louisiana for all vein related issues.
