Vascular Disease
What is peripheral vascular disease?
This refers to diseases of blood vessels outside the heart and brain. It's often a narrowing of vessels that carry blood to leg and arm muscles.
There are two types of these circulation disorders:
- Organic peripheral vascular diseases are caused by structural changes in the blood vessels, such as inflammation and tissue damage. Peripheral artery disease is an example. It is caused by a build up of fats.
- Functional peripheral vascular diseases don't have an organic cause. They don't involve defects in blood vessels' structure. They're usually short-term effects and can come and go.
