PANAJI
Though many consider it to be an issue of making the leg look ugly, doctors say most patients they receive only make it to their clinics when the veins begin to cause pain and bleed. It is estimated five out of ten adults suffer from this condition that is predominant among adults who stand for long hours.
Increasingly, fitting this category are the over 30 to 40-year olds who work aboard cruise liners as waiters or kitchen assistants.
Dr Irineu Pereira has been at the fore treating such cases in men and women. Having seen the number of cases rise over the last ten years, Dr Pereira says he has over a thousand cases of shippies suffering from varicose veins.
“Their work involves standing for long hours, sometimes even 12 hours, thus causing the condition to worsen. In the last ten years, I have treated over 1,200 shippies with this condition. They usually come to me with swollen feet,” said Dr Pereira.
Those working in restaurants aren’t any different. Dr Rakesh Deshmane, nephrologist at the Manipal Hospitals in Dona Paula recently operated a male who worked at a restaurant for several years.
“He came to me with an ulcer that had developed because of an untreated varicose vein. He had to be operated to have the ulcer removed, but the cause of the ulcer was because he had ignored the condition and continued with his usual regimen of standing for long hours,” said Dr Deshmane.
Varicose veins occur when weakened valves and veins in the legs stop the normal one-way flow of blood from the legs up toward the heart. When these valves do not work, blood collects in the legs where the pressure builds up. This in turn causes the veins to become weak, large, and twisted.
If untreated, over the years, ulcers develop in the leg and if still untreated, causes the vein to burst.
Apart from long standing hours as one reason for varicose veins genetics, poor lifestyles and lack of exercise are also factors. In Goa, due to genetics, weak valves are carried down from generations, as Dr Pereira has seen.
Costs for procedures range from Rs 40,000 to 50,000 for surgery while laser therapy costs anything between Rs 60,000 to Rs 80,000. The prices may be one reason for patients who ignore this, but Dr. Pereira says precaution is better than cure.
