Fighting a Silent Killer: Why Charitable Support Matters in PAD Care.

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) affects over 200 million people worldwide, yet it often goes undiagnosed until it’s too late. This chronic, progressive disease silently reduces blood flow to the limbs, increasing the risk of non-healing wounds, amputations, and even death. In the U.S. alone, more than 150,000 amputations are performed each year due to PAD, many of them preventable.

The burden doesn’t end with the diagnosis.

Patients with PAD often face a maze of challenges: limited access to education about their condition, delayed referrals, inadequate insurance coverage, and overwhelming out-of-pocket costs for wound care, diagnostics, and treatment. These barriers are especially acute in underserved communities and particularly among Hispanic, African American, and elderly populations, where PAD is more prevalent and outcomes are worse.

That’s where charitable organizations step in.

Nonprofits and community foundations play a critical role in filling the gaps left by our healthcare system.

They:

• Provide education to help patients recognize early signs of PAD and seek timely care

  
  

• Fund diagnostic testing and limb-saving interventions that patients might otherwise not afford

  
  

• Support transportation, wound care supplies, and home health services that directly impact healing

  
  

• Empower communities with resources, training, and advocacy to prevent unnecessary amputations

  
  

At their core, these organizations bring hope, transforming statistics into survival, and survival into stories of resilience.

Because when we lift the financial burden, provide knowledge, and surround patients with a circle of care, we don’t just prevent limbs from being lost.

We restore lives, families, and futures.

PAD may be silent, but our support doesn’t have to be.