2142 Do you have hair on your toes?

Well, you should if you've got a good blood supply. If you don't, you might have PAD, Peripheral Arterial Disease. "PAD is a problem with blood flow in the arteries. Arteries carry blood to the muscles and organs in your body. When you have diseased arteries, they become narrow or blocked. The most common cause of narrow or blocked arteries is the buildup of fatty deposits. This is called atherosclerosis. The most common complaint of people who have PAD is claudication."

"Claudication is pain in the calf or thigh muscle that occurs after you have walked a certain distance, such as a block or two. The pain stops after you rest for a while. Each time the pain occurs, it takes about the same amount of time for the pain to go away after you stop walking."

Not everyone who has PAD has symptoms. But look for hair on your toes.

There are two articles about PAD in the Feb. 1 issue of JAMA, "Does the clinical examination predict lower extremity peripheral arterial disease," and "Medical treatment of peripheral arterial disease." Many public libraries carry JAMA. And that's its real title, despite the constant misuse of its old title in all the media (Journal of the American Medical Association).