Fibromuscular dysolasia refers to a kind of irregularity noticed in blood arteries. In such condition, either your arteries get enlarged or they get narrowed than the usual proportion. In both of the cases, blood flow in various organs can get disrupted. Some of the arteries, like those which lead to the kidney, arms, legs, abdomen, heart, brain are influenced badly.
Reasons Behind Fibromuscular Dysolasia Are:
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Though the accurate reason is still not a known clearly, however there are a few things that can play some serious part behind appearance of this ailment.
Genetics:
It can be transmitted genetically. If any of your direct relatives is a patient of fibromuscular dysplasia then it can increase your chances of getting affected by this problem.
Stress or Trauma:
Any kind of stress or even trauma, mostly impacting the artery walls could be the reason behind it.
Hormone:
One of the major factors believed to be behind this ailment is hormonal imbalance & women are more prone to get affected by this than their opposite sex.
Unusually Located Artery/Lack of Oxygen:
If your arteries are situated irregularly then this ailment can appear.Limited oxygen flow in your arteries can also enhance the chances of this ailment.
Symptoms:
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Signs could appear depending on which artery of your body is damaged by fibromuscular dysplasia.
If the damaged artery is the one leading to your brain, then you could face:
- Neck pain
- Vision loss , temporary or blurred vision.
- Headache
- Facial numbness or even weakness
- Tinnitus (like continuous ringing in your ears)
- Dizziness
When the damaged artery is the one leading towards kidney, then you could face symptoms like:
- Ischemic renal atrophy or damaged tissues in your kidney.
- High BP
- Very occasionally you could face chronic kidney failure.
When the damaged artery is the one leading to your arms & legs then the signs are:
- Weakness
- Cold limbs
- Experiencing a touch of uncomfortableness while moving your feet or hands or even legs.
- Changes of skin color.
When the damaged artery is the one going towards abdominal, then the following signs can be seen:
- Weight loss, which is not intentionally done
- Experiencing abdominal pain after having food.
You can experience the following signs, when the damaged artery is leading towards heart:
- Heart attack, which can appear rarely
- Having chest pain
Fibromuscular dysplasia can also be the reason behind SCAD (spontaneous coronary artery dissection also known as a condition which causes damages like tears in your coronary artery walls. Some of its major signs are:
- Sweating
- Chest pain
- Shortness of Breathing
- Nausea
Sometimes people suffering from fibromuscular dysplasia can experience multiple narrow arteries.
Though the reason behind this ailment is still unknown, however there are some risk factors that are always related with this problem. Some of these factors are:
Smoking:
People who smokes, can enhance the chances for this disease. Especially when you are already facing some problems & still continue to smoke, the risk of chronic fibromuscular dysplasia becomes very high.
Age:
People who are diagnosed by this ailment, are mostly in their early fifty’s.
Sex:
In some scenarios women have higher risk than men.
Modes of Treatment:
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Diagnosis for fibromuscular dysplasia is dependent on the health, position of the damaged artery & various other health conditions. Usually diagnosis for this ailment includes medications, surgery & procedures.
Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA):
This process is considered to be more effective than surgery. This process can be executed at precisely the same time when an angiogram that is catheter based is being executed.
When the dye injected via the angiogram reflects the narrow area of the artery, a wire is first threaded into the artery followed by a catheter to which a balloon is attached. The balloon is inflated in the narrow part thereby expanding that area. Stents which are used in angioplasty is not necessary in this case.
Revascularization through Surgery:
When PTA is not the option & the narrowing problem is quite serious, then your doctor might advise you for a severe surgery tocure your narrowed artery. Aortorenal bypass is quite a popular surgical option.In this procedure usually the doctor replaces the artery which goes to the kidney from your leg.
When the doctor finds your fibromuscular dysplasia to be quite serious, then they can recommend putting a stent or a metallic tube with a mesh like structureinside the problematic artery for averting any further damage.
Medicines:
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Mostly high BP medications are recommended for people suffering from fibromuscular dysplasia (even if they had gone through any kind of procedure to rectify the situation). Some other medications include:
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) preventers: like lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril), enalapril (Vasotec), benazepril (Lotensin). These could avert any further narrowing of your blood vessels.
Beta blockers: Medicines like; atenolol (Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol-XL) etc, are able to block adrenaline as well as lower your heart beat.
Calcium channel blockers: Like, nifedipine (Adalat CC, Afeditab CR, Procardia), amlodipine (Norvasc) etc, helps blood vessels to relax.
Angiotensin II receptor blockers: By hindering the activity of natural chemicals, which can limit the blood vessels, these medicines can help your blood vessels to relax. Some of these medications are: valsartan (Diovan), losartan (Cozaar) & candesartan (Atacand), irbesartan (Avapro).
These are a few suggestions, nevertheless don’t take any single step without discussing with your doctor. Some of these medicines could leave some adverse effects on your kidney or on any other organs, so expert advises are always necessary.
If you smoke, another part of your treatment plan will be to stop smoking. Smoking may make fibromuscular dysplasia even worse.
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