NEW YORK, Jan. 29, 1998 - Most women age 35 and older experience swelling or other leg health concerns on a weekly basis, and one in six affected says her leg health has forced her to take time off work or quit her job altogether, according to a national survey released today.
Leg health challenges have stifled the career strides of many American women. Of those women age 35 and older who experience leg health concerns, one in three (31 percent) reports there are jobs she would like to take but can't because they would require her to be on her feet for a long time, revealed the survey sponsored by VENASTAT?, a new dietary supplement, made by Pharmaton Natural Health Products.
"Leg health challenges have placed unacceptable limits on the lives of so many active American women," said Luis Navarro, M.D., a surgeon at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and founder of the Vein Treatment Center, both in New York City.
"It's important for women to realize that poor venous leg circulation is not an inevitable part of aging and there are options available to keep women moving at the pace they want," Dr. Navarro said.
Interestingly, the findings of the national survey come at a time when an unprecedented number of women are working after childbirth - 70 percent of women with children under 18 were working in 1996 compared with 47 percent in 1975, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They are returning to work after at least one pregnancy, which is the biggest single cause of poor leg vein health, says Dr. Navarro.
At the same time, many women are welcoming the increasing opportunity to work in more physically demanding jobs. For example, in just 10 years, the number of women working in such jobs as police officers, mechanics and plumbers has doubled, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Her legs are what prevented Elaine Javins, 45, a registered nurse and mother of two grown children, from pursuing a hospital job that offered greater control over her work schedule but required her to be on her feet for her entire 12-hour shift.
"I had just gotten out of school and could have gone right into this position without losing any earning time, but I knew my legs couldn't tolerate 12 hour shifts," said Javins of Madison, W.Va. Instead, she continued her job search until she found a nursing position that allows her time to sit down and complete administrative duties.
The survey showed that among women age 35 and older, 54 percent experience leg vein concerns every week or more often. Those weekly or sometimes daily concerns include leg swelling (53 percent), sensations of tired, heavy legs (63 percent) and a restless feeling in the legs (56 percent).
Among those age 35 and older who experience leg vein challenges, 7 percent said leg health forced them to take a day off from work and 10 percent said it became so troublesome they were forced to leave their job, the survey revealed. The situation is most prevalent among women age 35 to 44, who said they took time off or quit at an even higher rate (15 percent and 23 percent respectively).
Leisure time also is affected by leg health, the survey showed. Of women age 35 and older who experience leg health concerns, 25 percent said it prevented them from being as active or social as they would like to be.
Leg health is a timely concern for American women of all ages, 29 percent of whom said they have consulted their healthcare professional about the topic. Still, many women are unaware of its importance to their overall health and cling to myths about the topic. Of those surveyed,
55 percent said they believe the decline in leg health is an unavoidable part of the aging process (in fact, preventive steps can be as simple as daily walking). And, 25 percent said they do not believe that crossing your legs is bad for leg vein circulation (doing so inhibits blood flow).
"The first step on the path toward improving leg health is to raise awareness among American women about an issue that can help them lead fuller, more satisfying lives," said Robert Carraher, Executive Director of Marketing at Pharmaton Natural Health Products. The random telephone survey of 500 women nationwide, age 18 and older, was conducted on Dec. 12-14, 1997, by TeleNation, a service of Market Facts, Inc., based in Arlington Heights, Ill. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percent.
Founded in 1995, Pharmaton Natural Health Products of Ridgefield, Conn., is the U.S. consumer products division of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and is part of the Boehringer Ingelheim worldwide group of companies, based in Ingelheim-on-the-Rhine, Germany. Boehringer Ingelheim is a major pharmaceutical, chemical, animal health and bakery products company with operations in 160 countries around the world. As the OTC division, Pharmaton is committed to bringing highly tested, natural dietary supplements to the U.S. marketplace. Currently, its GINSANAr and GINKOBA? brands are the number one and two selling herbal dietary supplement brands, respectively, in the United States.
A complete copy of the survey is available upon request. Please call Liz Albert at 212-367-6854 or Jamie DePasquale at 212-367-6891.
To learn more about leg health, you are invited to attend a press briefing at The Grill at the Reebok Sports Club, located at 160 Columbus Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY, on January 29, 1998 from 9:00AM - 10:30AM. Please RSVP for the event by calling Liz Albert at (212) 367-6854.