Though pain in the left arm is widely known as a common symptom of heart attack and stroke, do you have pain in your legs or trouble walking far?

Local doctors say most people don't realize that one symptom of peripheral artery disease (PAD) — which puts patients at high risk for heart attack and stroke — is cramping or fatigue in the legs.

Caused by fatty deposits that build up in the inner linings of the arterial walls, such blockages put sufferers at higher risk of death from heart attack and stroke.

Heart and circulation disorders are the topic of this month's Deseret News/Intermountain Healthcare Hotline on Saturday. From 10 a.m. to noon, Dr. James Orford and Dr. Ed Miner, both cardiologists at the Utah Heart Clinic at Intermountain Healthcare, will answer questions by phone. Call 801-236-6061 or 800-925-8177.

Miner said people with PAD can exhibit a variety of symptoms, but pain in the legs when walking is common and can be diagnosed as neuropathy, arthritis or something else.

"It occurs in the calves or thighs or buttocks and comes on with walking," when patients have narrowing in the arteries that lead to their legs.

Once patients develop those fatty deposits, medication can help but won't reverse the disease, Miner said.

The first diagnostic tool doctors use to determine whether someone has those deposits involves taking a blood pressure reading in both arms and legs. The simple test can be done by a family physician.

If pressure is lower in the legs, "that correlates with blockages in the arteries going to the legs," and doctors can move on to further testing: either a CT scan or angiogram to determine where the blockages are.

With this blood pressure test, "anything less than 90 percent of the pulse in the leg compared to the arm is abnormal" when looking at systolic blood pressure in both places. "Anything less than 50 percent is critical," he said.

At that stage, people begin to develop leg sores that won't heal and gangrene can set in, meaning the limb has to be amputated.

Former Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller experienced those symptoms before he died earlier this year, Miner said.

The good news is that "most patients who have (PAD) just need to be treated with medications. They need to stop smoking, and then we treat them to achieve normal cholesterol and blood pressure level. That will help prevent progression of disease."

Patients who develop severe blockages to the point that they can't walk are candidates for either surgery or angioplasty or stents in the arms or legs, he said.