Chronic and progressive, venous disease is often ignored or considered benign. And yet, heaviness in the legs or the appearance of varicose veins are not to be taken lightly.
Eighteen million people suffer in France from venous disease. Almost a third of the country’s population. And only 30% of these patients are treated, and still, with for many of them a delay of 7 years between the first symptoms and the first consultation. That is to say that this pathology is too frequently either ignored by those who suffer from it, or considered negligible. Serious mistake: venous disease is a disease to be taken seriously because it is chronic, that is to say that there is no cure for it, progressive, which means that it can get worse and sometimes extremely serious when it leads to phlebitis which, themselves, can cause pulmonary embolisms which kill 10,000 people each year.
Heavy legs, restlessness, tingling? Even before the appearance of varicose veins, these manifestations can announce the entry into venous disease. The cause of these ailments? A loss of elasticity of the veins – which bring the blood back to the heart – following an alteration of the valves, these small valves which prevent the blood from going back down in the legs, causing stagnation which weakens the wall of the veins. “It’s a disease that affects something essential for our body, blood circulation,” insists Dr. Vincent Crébassa, a vascular doctor who practices in Montpellier.
Causes on which we can act
And yet a recent survey shows that 82% of French people consider that these first signs are not a disease, 80% of them that this disease is “not serious” anyway and that only 43% make the link with the circulatory system.
A surprising disinterest when we know that among the risk factors are widely shared daily habits, starting with the lack of physical exercise or prolonged standing. The other factors, such as excess weight or hypercholesteremia are also sufficiently widespread to arouse the necessary vigilance. Especially that on these possible causes of the venous disease, one can act easily through some adaptations of one’s way of life.
The importance of heredity
On the other hand, the venous disease also very often has a cause against which nothing can be done, heredity. And if this pathology affects more often women (75%) than men (25%), it is transmitted by the father as well as by the mother and more or less equally to children, girls or boys. This heredity factor is far from negligible since it increases the risk of developing a venous disease by 45%.
It is all the more important to consult as soon as symptoms appear that could announce this disease as it is also progressive if it is not taken care of. After the first stages which are manifested by this heaviness in the legs, the appearance of varicosities then varicose veins, venous edema may appear in the lower legs and ankles, then skin complications, finally ulcers and phlebitis. And if the initial disorders can easily be treated with venotonic drugs or restraint devices, the management of the more severe stages is much more cumbersome and sometimes requires the use of surgery.
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