An abdominal aortic aneurysm could be significant, an emergency condition when it has become advanced. While it can be serious (especially if it ruptures), fortunately it is also treatable if caught early. Some effective treatments are available to cope with it. If you do concern about your risk of this swelling disorder – it’s important to understand the symptoms, risk factors, and treatment options so you can take action quickly if needed!
What actually is abdominal aortic aneurysm?
Aneurysm means swelling – so abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a condition of when the abdominal aorta, the lower part of the major blood vessel that runs through your abdomen, gets swelled.
Normally, the size of abdominal aorta is about 0.79 inches (2 cm) wide, about the thickness of a garden hose. In advanced AAA, it can enlarge over 2.7 inches (5.5 cm).
*Image credit to Mayo
Causes and risk factors
Currently, it’s not known yet what exactly causes this disorder. But doctors believe that the following factors or conditions may play a role.
- Tobacco smoke. It is thought that cigarette smoking raises the risk of the condition. Tobacco smoke can hurt your aorta, making the aorta’s walls weaken. The more you smoke, the greater risk of developing aneurysm in your aorta!
- High blood pressure (hypertension). High pressure against blood vessels (including aorta) can weaken and damage the blood vessel’s walls. And weakened aorta’s walls are easier to get swelled.
- A condition called atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries. It can develop when excess deposits (such as fat, cholesterol, and other substances) accumulate and build up on the lining of the blood vessels. If it occurs in the abdominal aorta, over time it may lead to AAA.
- In some cases, AAA can occur due to a consequence of disease or infection in the aorta.
- It’s also thought that AAA runs in families. Research suggests that having first relative degrees (particularly such as sister or brother with AAA) may significantly increase the risk of developing the same condition.
- Trauma, such as after a car accident.
In addition, it seems that the risk of developing AAA also increases with age. In fact, it is relatively more common in people aged 50 or older.
So in general, abdominal aortic aneurysm occurs when the abdominal aorta’s wall becomes weakened and the large volume of blood that flow through it puts more pressure, making it to bulge outwards and get swelled.
Symptoms
AAA may vary from patient to patient. But most of the time, it grows slowly and develops gradually. Therefore it often doesn’t cause early symptoms and difficult to catch early.
Over time it can rupture, though not always. In some cases, it starts small and stays small. But it also can expand and eventually may rupture. In a few cases, it also can expand more quickly. Unfortunately, it’s still difficult to predict how fast it may enlarge.
As it enlarges, it may cause some of the following symptoms:
- Back pain that is difficult to improve, persistent back pain.
- Constant, deep stomach pain. You may also feel it on the side of the abdomen.
- A pulsating feeling in your abdomen, typically near the navel (belly button). It’s usually more noticeable when you touch it.
If it ruptures, it can cause severe and sudden pain in the abdomen (particularly in the side or middle of the abdomen). The pain may also radiate down into scrotum (in men) or even to legs.
The ruptured AAA is painful and may also be followed with other symptoms such as; nausea, vomiting, clammy /sweaty skin, dizziness, tachycardia (increased heartbeat), feeling of breathlessness, or even loss of consciousness.
Why is an abdominal aortic aneurysm significant?
AAA is usually not noticeable until it becomes advanced. Again if you have it, you probably won’t notice anything different. But if it bursts, it can be a medical emergency and you should go to the hospital as soon as possible! Even ruptured AAA can cause a death.
The effect of ruptured AAA can be very serious. Therefore, screening for AAA is recommended to catch it as early as possible (when it is usually most treatable) – especially for people with many risk factors of the condition.
But why is ruptured AAA very significant and even life-threatening?
… Continued …
In general, the faster abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) grows and the larger it is means the greater the risk of rupture.
Abdominal aorta, where AAA develops, is the lower part of the aorta. And because your aorta is the main supplier of blood in your body (it is the largest blood vessel that you have), ruptured AAA can cause a serious life-threatening bleeding. That’s why the effect can be so significant and should be treated immediately!
A ruptured aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection (tears in one or more layers of the aorta’s wall) is the main complication of AAA. The risk of blood clots is another complication. Small blood clots may occur in the area of where aortic aneurysm develops. This may block other blood vessels, causing pain or blocking the blood flow to particular areas of the body (such as abdominal organs, kidneys, legs, or toes).
When to see a doctor?
If you experience any symptom associated with AAA (see the previous page), see your doctor promptly! But if you have no symptoms and concern about your risk of AAA, you can consider taking a screening for the condition.
The screening is commonly recommended for older people, especially men over 65. It can also affect women, but it affects more men than women. If you have other risk factors (such as a smoker and having a family history of aneurysm), you may be recommended to take the screening earlier!
Abdominal ultrasound is one of the common procedures in screening for AAA. It can help show up whether or not you have aneurysm before it becomes advanced.
What else to do? The following lifestyle measures can help prevent aneurysm:
- Quit smoking as soon as possible (if you’re an active smoker)! It’s also important to avoid secondhand smoke.
- Eating right, especially diet low in fat!
- Do exercise moderately and regularly! Exercise is great way to boost your overall health, including for your heart and aorta!
- And keep your weight healthy! Excess weight you gain can put you at high risk of hypertension and make your heart work harder. And these things can pose to the risk of aortic aneurysm.
If you have AAA, the goal of the treatment is to keep if from rupturing. The treatment can vary, depending on a number of several factors (such as the condition and size of your aneurysm).
For instance, not all cases are treated with surgery. Even sometimes watchful waiting (a procedure of when no active treatment is necessary but the aneurysm is continuously monitored) may be suggested if your aneurysm is small, likely to grow slowly or even stay small.