Any type of inflammation can disturb the body functions and it can be worse when it happens in heart. Arteries are responsible to carry blood from heart to rest of the body. In certain cases these arteries get damaged and as a result it affects your heart and rest of the body. Takayasu’s arteries are actually a rare type of artery inflammation condition that damages the large artery carrying blood from the heart to rest of the body. This condition can be life threatening as it blocks the arteries and weakens walls. Today we will know about symptoms and causes for this condition.
What is Takayasu’s Arteries?
It is a disease that is caused because of inflammation of large arteries in the heart. Takayasu’s arteries are caused because of damage occurred on the arteries. We spoke to Cardiologist Dr. Umesh Nair from BNK Hospital, Kochi to know the details of this condition. He told that Takayasu results to blocked or weakened artery walls in the chest. This happens due to bulge created by the damage on the main artery. It can cause severe pain in chest and arms. This disease also increases blood pressure and can cause heart failure at many times.
It is usually hard to determine this condition until some evident symptoms are experienced. Symptoms occur at critical levels where the artery wall is affected to an extent that it could cause health complications. Most of the people need quick medical attention at this stage to control inflammation. However unfortunately, even after treating this disease with medication, there is still a possibility of collapses.
Symptoms of Takayasu’s Disease
There are majorly two stages in which the disease can be categorised. Depending on these stages, the severity and symptoms also vary. Here are some signs and symptoms of Takayasu’s disease that you must be aware of.
Stage-1
In the first stage, there are mild symptoms that may be confused with other problems. However this disease makes you experience more than one symptom at once. But at the same time, it is also possible that you may not experience any symptom at all at the first stage.
- Unintended weight loss
- Muscle pain and pain in joints
- Fatigue
- Having mild fever
- Night sweats and hot flashes
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Stage-2
During the second stage of takayasu’s disease, the inflammation increases and it narrow downs your bloodstream and oxygen. This impacts your functioning of organs and tissues in the body. Signs of this condition in the second stage include-
- Weakness in your arms and legs
- Pain in the arms and limbs
- Weak pulse
- Difficulty in getting blood pressure
- Difference in blood pressure in the arms
- Light headedness
- Dizziness and fainting
- Headaches or visual changes
- Having difficulty in memory problems
- Shortness of breath and chest pain
- High blood pressure
- Blood in your stool
- Reduced quantity of red blood cells
What causes Takyasu’s disease?
There could be some major conditions that may cause this disease to occur. However, it is not usually possible to find out the cause of takayasu’s disease. In majority of cases, the aorta and other major arteries present in your body that leads the blood to head and kidneys becomes inflamed as a result of which it becomes problematic. Still the initial cause of inflammation remains unknown in this disease. It could also be due to autoimmune disease which triggers your immune system and attacks your arteries by mistake.
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Complications of Takayasu’s disease
As you must have understood that this is a major disease which could lead to life-threatening complications. Here are some complications of Takayasu’s arteries that you must know.
- Hardening or narrowing of blood vessels in the body that reduces the blood flow in the organs and tissues
- Inflammation in the heat that can affect the heart muscles and heart valves of the person
- It can lead you to heart failure due to high blood pressure and inflammation of major arteries. An aortic valve allows to leak back into your heart and cause combination of problems.
- Can cause stroke because of blocked blood flow in the arteries that lead it to brain
- Transient ischemic attack which is also called a ministroke, many people have this complication in this stage. It is also a warning sign that could lead towards permanent damage.
- Aneurysm in the aorta that occurs when the walls of the blood vessels become weak or stretched, it is also a common complication that occurs in this disease.
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