Vascular doctor (blood, diet, blood sugar, work)

[foxyknoxy]

How often do you go to one?

Did they help you save your legs?

[gguerra]

If by save your legs, you mean stop the complications. You can usually do that yourself by keeping your blood sugar normal.

[Rom623]

Something supplement ideas

Jarrow's Venous optimizer and Collagen 1 and 3(there are many brands, I like Sports Research)

[guidoLaMoto]

Diabetic complications are negatively correlated with BS control (better control/fewer complications), but the strength of that correlation ain't all that good- Plenty of diabetics in good control still get complications, and plenty in bad control don't. Go figure...Best advice is still to strive for good control.

In so far as arterial complications of the legs-- Regular exercise-- walking is good enough--helps not so much to prevent the hardening of the arteries, but to open up alternative arterial flow. It's kinda like finding a good detour when your morning commute is slowed by road construction.

Procedures to fix arterial obstructions don't usually get you back to "normal" but just "good enough" and hopefully to prevent complete obstruction & gangrene, or to prolong your walking tolerance before you get those pains of claudication. ..

Stents in the legs have a poor longevity-- only a year or so. And surgical bypass is a major undertaking...Part of the problem is that it doesn't do a whole lot of good to fix one or two big potholes in the road when you have 25 miles of bad road to deal with.

Drugs like Trental work by making the plate-like RBCs more flexible so they can supposedly squeeze thru tight arteries. Sounds good, but I've never seen a pt who really saw an improvement in symptoms.

Watch you diet and exercise. [Isn't that good advice for everyone, diabetic or not?]

Oh,...and in answer to the equation in the OP-- You go to a vascular surgeon after you have big problems to see if they can be fixed. It's your PC/diabetologist who will help you prevent the problems.