Diagnosis is critical, as people with PAD have a four to five times higher risk of heart attack or stroke. Find out what addiction Ricky still struggles with and the steps you should take before it's too late.

I suffered that for years and not knowing what it was. All I dealt with was the pain in my legs when it comes to mobility.



My name is Ricky, I'm from Queens, New York.



What P.A.D does is it restricts the circulation, the oxygen in the blood which comes from nicotine. The symptom starts with pain in the legs, the calf muscles. They say more so than a hamstring or the quads. And I got to a point where I had to literally stop in the middle of walking. It was very constricting as far as life style you know what I'm saying. Cause I've always been athletic all my life.



Well just everyday things; walking, climbing stairs, running, jumping, all of that, yeah it restricted it. And that was you know emotional. That was something to accept.



I had a procedure, it's called an angioplasty, they put a stent in to blow out the arteries, you know what I'm saying which comes from -- mine stems actually from high cholesterol and cigarette smoking you know what I'm saying which is very detrimental more so than anyone could ever imagine.



I haven't left the cigarettes alone all together, but I've cut down drastically but I you know I have to wean myself. Eventually I will. But other than that, I'm all right, much better than I was say a year ago, year and a half ago, two years ago. You know but I take it sincerely now.