A family inheritance, a work while standing and two maternities: three risk factors of venous disease are accumulated by Véronique. At the end of a sclerotherapy / laser session, she testifies: “I did preventive work by getting treated very young, it allowed me to avoid very knotty varicose veins, swelling of the legs at the end of the day and even phlebitis. It’s important to have done it and today, at 59, I have many sets of bites behind me. ”
This patient began taking charge of her venous disease at 19 years old. “I knew it was hereditary because my mother had varicose veins and my father had a problem with his capillaries ”, she says. Heredity is indeed the first of the risk factors in venous disease.
Heredity, the first risk factor
“When you have a parent who has varicose veins, you have a 50% risk of having them; and when both parents have it, the risk is 90% ”, confirms Christelle Bougard, vascular doctor and phlebologist. This predisposing factor mainly results in a very early onset of the disease. “When there is family heredity, venous insufficiency can appear young, some patients have small varicose veins from the age of 20 ”, explains the practitioner.
On the other hand, these family antecedents have the “advantage” of sensitizing those or those who are concerned to the early management of the signs which can announce venous disease. “People come to consult because they are embarrassed, or when they have a family history of complications, says Dr. Bougard. Otherwise, a majority of consultations for venous insufficiency concern people in their forties.”
Stagnant blood in the veins
The other risk factor concerning this patient, her job which requires long standing positions. “I am a beautician and I have been trampling for 40 years, it’s not ideal! ” For people who suffer from venous disease, trampling worsens the effects of the pathology. By reducing the capacity of the venous system to ensure a good return of blood to the heart, it causes stagnation of the blood in the veins whose walls, weakened by this additional pressure, lose their elasticity. This is what causes the symptoms of heavy legs or the appearance of varicose veins. The fact of standing for a long time, like all the postures corresponding to a too great sedentary lifestyle, risks amplifying the evil. Hence the importance, before treatments to remove varicose veins, of a follow-up which may be accompanied by a prescription for venotonic drugs or compression or restraint devices.
During pregnancy, the role of progesterone
If women are more likely than men to suffer from venous disease, it is largely linked to pregnancy. From the first weeks, a hormone, progesterone, is secreted to strengthen the flexibility of the uterine tissue. But this hormone also acts on the venous walls and thus increases the risk of varicose veins. Then, the increase in the size of the uterus and the weight of the fetus can compress the veins and make the problems worse. “During my two maternities, new varicose veins appeared, confirms Véronique, and I was followed each time to avoid phlebitis ”. The patient was also treated three months after each childbirth to remove small spider veins.
Below, Véronique’s testimony:
