Cilostazol proven effective vs PAD

You often feel this disease’s common symptoms – pain in the calf or thigh, discomfort, fatigue, and numbness in the leg when walking then eases during rest. You dismiss it as something not worth fretting about. Think again. 

Those symptoms might be telling you that you are suffering from Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD), a potentially deadly medical condition which can cause gangrene, kidney damage, heart attack and stroke.

PAD, a condition which is especially prevalent among diabetes patients, refers to the partial or complete blockage of major vessels outside the heart that supply blood to other important areas of the body, such as brain, kidneys, arms and legs.

It is most often the result of progressive atherosclerosis and is a strong marker for cardiovascular as well as cerebrovascular disease. People with PAD have greater morbidity and mortality rates due to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events.

Because these blockages can prove to be lethal, people who are experiencing its symptoms are encouraged to visit their doctors and have their condition diagnosed. Once a diagnosis for PAD is made, physicians will recommend a drug for the treatment of the disease along with lifestyle modification.

Cilostazol is one of the drugs recommended to treat the symptoms of PAD. It has been shown to reduce the pain associated with intermittent claudication (feeling of numbness and fatigue in the legs) and allow patients to increase walking distance. 

In the United States, eight trials were done to test the efficacy of Cilostazol versus placebo in the treatment of intermittent claudication. Patients were either given Cilostazol 50mg 2 tabs bid/day, 100mg bid/day or placebo for 12 to 24 months. Treadmill test were done to determine improvement in walking distances.

Results showed that those who took Cilostazol experienced an improvement in maximal walking distance compared to those given placebo. 

The maximal walking distance of Cilostazol patients improved by 44 to 50 percent compared 21 percent improvement achieved by patients taking placebo.

Furthermore, changes in pain-free walking distance showed a similar pattern to maximal walking distance and were significantly greater for Cilostazol patients.

The symptoms of PAD may be common and trivial but the complications caused by the disease are life-threatening.

It is a medical condition which should be taken seriously. The earlier the patient avail himself of medication for PAD, the higher the chances to prevent further progression of the disease. 

Patients are reminded that Cilostazol is a prescription medicine and should only be bought upon a doctor’s advice.