As vascular specialists, interventional radiologists see first hand the damage that smoking causes to the arteries (10 million Americans suffer from hardening of the arteries in the legs) and the accompanying leg pain that many smokers suffer. While most people are aware of the cancer risk from smoking, health experts indicate few realize the damage it causes throughout the body’s vascular system. Smoking damages the blood vessels and smokers are at risk for all vascular diseases including peripheral vascular disease (PVD), stroke, heart attack, abdominal aortic aneurysm and subsequent death. This year during the Great American Smokeout , the Society of Interventional Radiology is urging smokers to quit.

There is a nonsurgical procedure performed by an interventional radiologist that takes less than an hour and involves only a small nick in the skin.Interventional radiologists use ultrasound imaging to thread a laser into the vein to seal it, redirecting blood flow to healthy veins. This is a nonsurgical alternative that is performed in the doctor’s office using only a local anesthetic and patients resume normal activities almost immediately.

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