Understand Vein Health & Vein Disease Risk Factors
Find Out What Factors Are Under Your Control and Reduce Your Chances of Varicose Veins, Spider Veins and Other Venous Problems
Risk factors for vein disease are simply those factors which put a patient at increased risk to develop this condition. Some of these factors are inherited and cannot be modified. Some of these are a result of things that have happened to the patient in the past and cannot be changed.
Other factors can be changed at the patient’s discretion and by making such a change; the patient can decrease both symptoms and progression of disease. This group includes factors that have been shown by most studies to have an influence. Finally, there is a group of factors that have been shown to be not significant.
- Family history of varicose veins
- Family history of other venous problems; e.g. blood clots, Thrombophlebitis (vein inflammation)
- Female sex
- Connective tissue laxity; e.g. hernias, flat feet
- Height, especially in women
- Arterio-venous malformation
Inherited Risk Factors:
- Age
- Previous lower limb trauma
- Number of births/pregnancies
- Previous oophorectomy
- Hormone replacement therapy
- Previous blood clot or thrombophlebitis
- Iliac vein compression (May-Thurner)
Past History Risk Factors:
- Positional factors-especially prolonged standing
- Wearing of medical grade support stockings
- Treatment by a vein specialist
- Smoking (weak association)
- Elevated blood pressure (weak association)
Risk Factors Under Patient Control:
- Constrictive clothing
- Sedentary life style
- Constipation
- Fiber intake