If walking hurts, ask about testing for peripheral arterial disease.

"It’s like angina of the leg,” says Felipe Navarro, M.D. — an ache, pain, cramping, or fatigue in leg muscles during walking that is the most common symptom of peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

The condition, clogging of the arteries in areas of the body outside of the heart or brain, can also appear in the carotid arteries, as well as blood vessels in the kidney, abdomen and arm, according to Dr. Navarro, a peripheral interventionalist and cardiologist at The Cleveland Clinic. It’s linked with significant risks of cardiovascular disease and death. But a recent study shows that doctors often fail to perform a simple in-office test to diagnose it, the…

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