Smoking, high BP and diabetes independently linked to peripheral vascular disease, suggests study

A new study published in the journal of Cureus showed that smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure are independent risk factors for peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in Northeast India that are specific to a certain location.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is the subject of this study because of its increased rates of morbidity and mortality associated with cardiovascular fatalities. The majority of research on PVD risk factors comes from Western nations, with little information accessible in developing nations like India. This study was set to examine the different risk factors most frequently linked to peripheral vascular disease in a northeastern Indian tertiary care hospital because there is a severe paucity of data on PVD in this area.

Finding risk variables in patients with PVD was the goal of this hospital-based case-control research, which was carried out in both retrospective and prospective modalities. From January 2015 to January 2025, a tertiary care teaching hospital in Northeast India served as the study's site. Group A consisted of individuals with PVD, while Group B consisted of healthy volunteers who did not have PVD.

The study examined the course of the disease and the results of treatment over a ten-year period (January 2015–January 2025). It included prospective data (October 2020–January 2025) from a questionnaire survey and follow-ups, as well as retrospective data (January 2015–October 2020) from hospital records.

A total of 688 controls and 172 cases, at a 1:4 ratio, took part in the study. When compared to controls, cases had considerably higher rates of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking history, and cardiac conditions. Peripheral vascular disease was substantially correlated with smokers' daily cigarette consumption and smoking duration. The risk of peripheral vascular disease was considerably raised when smoking was coupled with diabetes mellitus and hypertension.

The most prevalent vascular pathology was atherosclerosis below the aortic bifurcation, which was detected in 104 patients (60.47%), followed by thromboangiitis obliterans in 63 individuals (36.63%). Male gender, smoking history, daily cigarette use, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension were all found to be distinct risk factors for peripheral vascular disease using multivariate logistic regression analysis.

The most popular therapy was amputation, which was followed by rehabilitation. Amputation was avoided in 17 of the 21 patients who tried bone marrow cell treatment. Overall, in Northeast India, smoking, diabetes, and alcohol use were found to be independent risk factors for PVD that were specific to a given location.

Source:

Hajong, R., Rabha, P., Medhi, B. B., Sharma, S., Pai, P. S., Baruah, A. J., & Devi, K. M. (2025). A retrospective risk-factor analysis of patients presenting with peripheral vascular disease in a tertiary care hospital in North-East India. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.82661