The oldest disease of humanity has been named

Varicose veins are the main enemy of the beauty of women’s legs. Doctors say: representatives of the fairer sex are five times more likely than men to be at risk for this disease. Unpleasant spider veins can appear even in those who lead a perfectly healthy lifestyle. What symptoms of the disease will help you understand that it’s time to go to the doctor, and whether there is a way to prevent varicose veins, “MK” learned from the surgeon and phlebologist.

Varicose veins are one of the oldest diseases in the world. Archaeologists have even found it in Egyptian mummies, said Open Clinic surgeon Vyacheslav Cheremisin. The mechanism of this disease is more about physics than medicine.

– This disease is associated with a person’s upright posture. All our weight puts pressure on the veins and prevents the natural flow of blood. The veins begin to work poorly and expand,” Cheremisin explained.

Human veins can be compared to hydraulic structures on a river. They have valves – “dams”. When pressure increases on these barriers, blood is automatically discharged to neighboring, freer areas of the circulatory system. But due to the fact that we walk upright, the pressure on the venous valves almost never decreases. As a result, the veins expand and “pop out” under the skin in the form of unsightly stars and convolutions. Moreover, as doctors note, varicose veins can appear on any part of the body. Although most often it occurs on the legs.

The appearance of spider veins is influenced by many factors. Heredity, lifestyle, general health – all this can ultimately lead to the fact that one person will have a bluish pattern visible under the skin, while another will bypass this trouble.

True, women are five times less likely to never see spider veins than men. It’s all about hormones: the start of the disease can be caused not only by pregnancy, but also by any slightest imbalance.

At the same time, medicine does not know how to remove any one provoking factor and thereby cure varicose veins, emphasized Vyacheslav Cheremisin.

Surgeon-phlebologist at the Presnya CDC Andrey Bystrov notes that the only recipe for varicose veins is movement.

– The muscle pump in the legs helps pump blood through the veins. But since we begin to move less and less, this is where the breakdown begins,” the doctor emphasized.

How do you understand that the veins have stopped working normally and it’s time to see a phlebologist?

Andrey Bystrov explained that the most common symptom of varicose veins is heaviness in the legs. This is the complaint most patients make.

– Usually heaviness is present in the afternoon, towards evening. Sometimes discomfort may occur. The patient sees the outlines of convoluted veins: stars and all sorts of snakes,” explained the phlebologist surgeon.

In later stages, swelling occurs. This is already a symptom of chronic venous insufficiency.

True, sometimes the notorious stars are not a sign of varicose veins. Sometimes the body paints an unsightly picture on a woman’s body during pregnancy. This is again due to hormonal changes, which cannot be avoided while expecting a baby.

Essentially all women are at risk for varicose veins. According to statistics, 65% of phlebologists’ patients are representatives of the fairer sex. Men suffer from this disease less often and are at risk after 40 years of age. But ladies can get an unpleasant disease at any age. The main risk factor is pregnancy.

– During pregnancy, the uterus enlarges, it compresses the veins through which blood flows from the lower extremities. This provokes the occurrence of varicose veins, explained Vyacheslav Cheremisin.

In the vast majority of cases, varicose veins are a disease of the legs. But if a person regularly experiences extreme physical activity, veins can appear in any other part of the body. Most often, bodybuilders come to doctors with this problem. They have serpentine veins appearing on their arms and chest.

“A complete lack of physical activity is bad,” notes Andrei Bystrov. – But its prohibitive scale is also bad, as it leads to varicose veins.