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Experiencing frequent leg cramps and walking discomfort is not the sign to ignore as you could be battling a heart related illness without recognising it.
Leg pain could indicate Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD).
If you experience leg pain, cramps or body soreness even after walking only short distances, stop taking it as a sign of ageing and start treating it as a serious issue. That sudden, excruciatingly painful leg cramp could be signalling something problematic about your blood flow. According to experts, it could be a sign of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), which is a blood flow circulation glitch that increases the risk of a heart attack.
PAD is indicative of a condition where a mix of fat, cholesterol and other substances forms fatty plaques inside your arteries that are responsible for efficient blood circulation across the body. When an individual is suffering from PAD, their arteries are susceptible to getting narrowed or blocked over time, which could mean the loss of blood circulation in the legs.
It results in various leg-related issues, as the leg muscles are no longer getting the right amount of oxygen and essential nutrients. If you frequently experience pain, cramps or heaviness in the legs, there is a good chance you may have a heart health issue at hand and are suffering from PAD.
What Researchers Say
According to the American Heart Association, one of the major symptoms of PAD is leg-muscle pain experienced by certain individuals even during short walking sessions. It’s a result of a blood flow complication inside our body, where even as our leg muscles are grasping for oxygen, the arteries are incapable of delivering the same via the blood.
The researchers suggest that currently over 8.5 million Americans are living with PAD, with many individuals being unaware of their heart condition and blood flow problem until the leg pain they experience starts interfering with daily activities.
Other Details About PAD
The pain individuals feel during Peripheral Artery Disease typically appears after a certain amount of walking and only eases when we stop. But the pain may start showing up more frequently, even when we rest our bodies, if the blood flow complication persists and worsens.
Apart from leg discomfort, there are multiple other signs of a malfunctioning artery and poor blood flow in the body. These include numbness and weakness of the legs, colder feet, wounded toes, shiny skin, hair loss on the legs and absent pulse in the feet.
Excess smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are some of the major factors associated with the PAD condition, developing atherosclerosis inside the body that paves the way for the artery plaques.
Delhi, India, India
October 27, 2025, 16:43 IST
