What are varicose veins?
The chronic venous insufficiency, also known as
varicose veins are swollen veins because of an abnormal collection of blood due to weak, often inherited, walls and valves of the superficial veins. This causes the veins to widen and dilate, so that blood is readily accumulated when a person stands for long.
"When the vein is dilated, it does not fulfill its function. They are responsible for carrying blood back to the heart and that means that the flow has to go against gravity: from the foot to the heart, the veins have valves that prevent the return of the blood flow to the foot and on the way up. However, if the vein is dilated, the valves do not function and the flow is reversed, which causes dilation increased and problems such as edema, swelling of the leg or in later stages, ulcers or phlebitis occur ( a varicose vein thrombosis), among others. This condition is more common in women, it usually occurs in the veins of the legs.
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