Saint Louis University Hospital is conducting free Legs for Life screenings for peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

Time:  8 a.m. to noon; 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Date:  Tuesday, September 24, and Wednesday, September 25
Place:  Saint Louis University Hospital Senior Referral Service,
            in the West Pavilion, 3655 Vista. 

To schedule a 10-minute screening, call toll free 888-888-8898. An appointment is required.

Approximately eight million people in the United States suffer from PVD, and most don’t know they have it. Early treatment is key to this condition, in which leg arteries become clogged, much like arteries from the heart, and whose most common symptom is leg pain while walking or exercising. People who suffer from diabetes, smokers and those with high blood pressure or cholesterol are at greater risk of PVD.

In addition to risk of stroke and heart attack, those with PVD are also at increased risk for AAA, which is a weakening and ballooning of the lower aorta, the main vessel that delivers blood from the heart to the rest of the body. These dangerous and life-threatening aneurysms occur in five seven percent of people age 60 or older. People with high blood pressure, smokers and those who have a family history of AAA or cardiovascular disease are at highest risk of developing AAA.

Legs for Life was founded by the Society of Interventional Radiology (S.I.R.), a national professional society of interventional radiologists. Screenings are led by S.I.R. and Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology members, and conducted by multidisciplinary teams of health professionals.