Can anyone tell me the reason for people having limbs cut off because they are smokers?
Question:
Does anyone know the name of this condition?
Answers:
I think the vascular disorder that is caused by smoking is called peripheral vascular disease, or PVT.
Smoking is a bad habit, and with luck this will convince lots of people not to start.
To answer your question, smoking puts chemicals in your bloodstream that act as "constrictors" that make your blood vessels tighten and clamp down. This is not normal, and is "reserved" for when you have "fight or flight" reactions from being scared, and when adrenalin rushes into your system.
When you fool your blood vessels into constricting over and over again for no reason (by injecting nicotiene and other strong stimulants), it creates issues with the tiniest of blood vessels and these are the ones that bring oxygen and other nutrients all the way to your extremeties (fingers, toes, hands, feet).
When these are compromised for too long, they cannot repair themselves and go into a death spiral. Because there is no nutrient supply to the area, the body's natural repair mechanisms fail, and the problem gets worse, and again, the body has no tools (blood supply) to fix itself. Gangrene is a circulatory problem. When the body parts cannot receive oxygen and nutrient-bearing blood, they die. Game over.
PVT is really caused by people stupidly believing that there is no real risk of smoking if they quit by the time they're 30 years old. Of course they're addicted by then, and 30 becomes 40, and then 50, and then, well, you know the rest.
Hope this helps scare you into quitting, or if you don't smoke, then I hope it scares your friends into quitting.
M
Other Answers:
oh its not a condition it just makes the nicotine buzz so much sweeter
Burger's disease is supposed to be caused by smoking but she may have just had endarteritis obliterans. I think your friend must be a diabetic as well as a smoker. I have never heard of a smoker having to lose limbs. That is a shame she has to have this done.
Gangreen, i know thats not how you spell it.
if your freind is like my husband sounds like Neropathy it causes nereve dammage, my husbband has it ..he recintly lost use of his legs,Neropathy is caused by smoking and diabetes
It is probably Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD) where the small vessels of the legs and feet or arms become constricted and the blood supply is cut off. Can be caused by smoking, I think nicotine is the culprit. not sure of the name for it, but i do know that smoking can affect the bodys circulation, due to furing of the arteries and damage to the heart.
I believe it has to do with Thrombosis (hardening of the arteries) which prevents blood circulation, blood clots etc. I friend of my had a problem with his leg a few years ago in this way. He was a heavy smoker. He was warned about possible amputation. In the end, the blood clot moved and gave him a heart attacks. He survived, but it seriously affected his health.
not much to say, only that the link below should have all you are looking for.
Source(s):
http://www.healthline.com/search?q1=gangrene&utm_source=adapt&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=serp2&utm_term=gangrene
She has probably developed Deep Vein Thrombosis, perhaps she was on the contraceptive pill at some time as well as smoking. This would greatly raise the risk of getting DVT, which can cut off the circulation, as well as posing a risk of the clot breaking off and travelling to the heart or brain, which is usually fatal. No but my grandmother had the same thing done. She was a smoker and this caused circulation problems in her leg.
She had a blister on her foot which ulcerated and she got blood poisoning. She then had her leg removed below the knee. This did not work and she had to have the knee removed as well (oh, so far as I know, she did not get gangrene per se)
That was 20 years ago. She is now over 90 and still going strong!
Hope that helps.
I am betting, too, that it is because of complications from diabetes. That causes circulatory problems and left untreated or their blood sugar is out of control, they may have toes, feet or entire legs amputated.
Smoking does not help this at all, but would not be the only reason someone would have a leg amputated. Smoking makes everything worse. Everything.
When you smoke there are chemicals that won't allow oxygen to attach itself to blood cells, therefore no oxygen goes to the body parts. causing gangrene Smoking can cause the arteries to clog up thus restricting blood flow to the extremities. With no oxygenated blood reaching the muscles etc they die and gangrene can set in. Left untreated this will continue to spread destroying the living tissue at it's edges. Once the tissue is dead it cannot be saved and to prevent the gangrene from progressing further throughout the body, amputation is the only solution.
my uncle was warned that if he did'nt stop smoking he would lose his legs. every time someone smokes, their arteries and veins contract causing them to narrow, the blood then cannot get through therefore cannot do it's job. the more you smoke the more you constrict the veins the more likely they are to deteriorate thus you end up losing limbs or having a heart attack! it affects veins through the whole body. if you do not lose a limb you will still lose the mobility because it hardens the arteries making it very painful to walk, it does no favors for your arms either! not to mention lungs e.t.c. i,m sorry i don't know the name, just the awful consequences of smoking. hope this helps i wish your freind good luck bye.
Narrowing of blood vessels can be caused by diabetes,high blood pressure , high cholesterol level and smoking to name a few.
Disease caused by smoking is called Berger's Disease.
Gangrene can be caused by perepheral vascular disease leading to amputation. Other contributing factors are diabetes or alchoholism, but smoking can be a stand alone cause.
Second of all, Berger's dz is affects the kidneys, which is a nephropathy, not neuropathy. smoking causes constriction of blood vessels as well as alterations in the clotting cycle of our bodies. Platlet aggregation is enhanced, thereby increasing the likelihood of blood clot formation. Smaller vessels of the extremities are very sensitive to a combination of vessel constriction and blood clots. It sounds like your friend has very severe PVD (peripheral vascular disease) and would be even more susceptible to the affects of anything constricting her blood vessels, hence blood flow. Often, there is also a component of diabetes which causes the same sort of vessel narrowing, nerve damage(neuropathy), etc. Gangrene results when an area of tissue has not recieved any blood supply, tissue dies and necrosis occurs. The only treatment for gangrene is to remove the affected areas. In patients with severe PVD and/or Diabetes it is often the lower extremities (ie: toes, legs) Encourage your friend to stop smoking immediately. The same damage to the circulation in her legs is also happening to her heart,kidneys,liver,brain etc.
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