President Trump has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency after experiencing swelling in his lower legs, a common condition that can affect people as they get older.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the condition is “benign” and common in people over 70. The president is 79. She added that follow-up testing revealed “no evidence” of any serious conditions, such as deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease.
In a segment on TODAY that aired Friday, July 18, NBC News medical contributor Dr. John Torres explained that “there’s no cure for (chronic venous insufficiency). (You) can’t make it better, but can certainly help make sure it doesn’t get worse.”
“Very simple things that can help take care of this, keep it under control,” he added.
But a White House official says there will be no changes to the president’s schedule or lifestyle as a result of the diagnosis, and that he won’t be taking steps to relieve the swelling, like wearing compression socks or putting his feet up, NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reported.
“I’m very surprised,” Torres said of the decision.
“I don’t quite understand why he does not want to wear compression stockings because that is one of the main things you want to do to try and take care of this.”
Torres, who is an emergency room physician, said he wears compression socks when he flies on a plane and while treating patients in the ER. They can be worn under regular socks or made to look like regular stockings, he noted, calling them “very easy to wear.”
Compression socks are considered a medical device and provide more pressure on the legs than regular socks — the knee-high stockings squeeze the veins to improve blood flow, Dr. Ashish Sarraju, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, previously told TODAY.com.
They’re needed when one-way valves inside the leg veins — a system designed to defy gravity and get blood in the legs flowing upwards to the heart — get damaged as people get older, become overweight, or sit and stand for long periods of time, Torres explained.
When that happens, blood can pool in the legs.
“When we walk, the muscles in our feet and our legs squeeze our veins that help pump blood back to the heart,” Dr. Aaron Aday, co-director of vascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, told NBC News.
That’s why the calf muscles are sometimes called the “second heart.”
“If you’re sitting or standing, say, on a plane ride or a desk job, that pressure can build up, causing achiness and heaviness in the legs,” he said.
But compression socks apply continuous pressure to improve circulation and reduce swelling.
Another strategy is to elevate the legs. “(Put) your feet up when you can. Try not to be standing or sitting too long without elevating your feet,” Torres said.
If the benign condition isn’t treated, venous ulcers can develop. These open sores can be very hard to treat, Torres said, and come with a risk of infection.
