Smoking increases hospitalizations, costs of peripheral artery disease

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/acoc-sih092415.php

Public Release: 28-Sep-2015
Smoking increases hospitalizations, costs of peripheral artery disease
Researchers say clinicians should focus on smoking cessation
American College of Cardiology

An analysis of medical costs associated with atherosclerotic lower extremity peripheral artery disease, a dangerous condition in which a buildup of plaque in the arteries restricts blood flow to the legs and feet, found that health care costs in one year were $18,000 higher in smokers with the condition than non-smokers with the condition.

Within one year, 49 percent of the tobacco users with PAD in the study were hospitalized, a hospitalization rate 35 percent higher than nonusers.

The study published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found smokers are more likely to be hospitalized for leg events, heart attack and coronary heart disease related to atherosclerotic peripheral artery disease, known as PAD, than non-smokers with PAD.

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