Vascular Disease Comes in Many Forms, Can Be Hard to Diagnose

When a person's blood vessels don't work properly, they may be diagnosed with vascular disease.

According to Javaneh Jabbari, M.D., MHS, RPVI, a board certified vascular surgeon with The Vascular Center at Mercy, different types of the condition can affect women. She said a big problem with vascular disease is some of the symptoms - like not having a lot of hair on your shin or having shiny shins - can be missed early on.

When women come to her with vascular disease, it's usually in older women and at later stages, Dr. Jabbari added, noting that there are many different types of vascular issues.

"In terms of the arteries, which are the blood vessels that bring blood to your body, you have artery disease of the leg, which is the peripheral arterial disease, that then you have aneurysms. So, that's just kind of like when your blood vessels balloon out and pouch and get too big. And, then, you have disease of carotid arteries that go to your brain, and that can cause strokes. So, those are some of the main ones that I tend to treat," Dr. Jabbari said.

If a close relative had an aneurysm, it's important to let your doctor know. Dr. Jabbari does see vascular disease in younger women as well, in the form of vasculitis.

Some other symptoms to watch out for include: pain with walking that gets better with rest, wounds on your feet or legs that aren't healing, and unexplained belly pain.

View Mercy vascular surgeon Dr. Javaneh Jabbari's interview regarding vascular disease in women.