GMA:Lasers Can Zap Varicose Veins

March 5 -- Doctors have found a new non-surgical treatment that uses lasers to zap the unsightly and painful varicose veins that plague the legs of about half of those over 50.

The new technique, performed on about 250 patients worldwide, will be announced today at the 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology in San Antonio, Texas.

Dr. Robert J. Min, the interventional radiologist from Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York who pioneered EndoVenous Laser Treatment (EVLT) said that the new procedure is simpler, cheaper, and has fewer side effects than other treatments. And the procedure is not just for cosmetic reasons.

"Unlike spider veins, when you have varicose veins, there is fat, heaviness, swelling and in extreme cases, the skin can break down," Min told Good Morning America. The procedure is gaining in popularity and he expects thousands of procedures to take place within the next year.

The procedure takes half an hour, and although some patients have a little tenderness, they can return to normal activity immediately, he said.

Common Problem Varicose veins affect one of every two people 50 or older, and about 15 percent of men and 25 percent of women overall, the Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology says. Pregnant women and women with a family history of varicose veins are at highest risk to develop the condition.

Experts have also named obesity, jobs that require sitting or standing for long periods of time, birth control pills, pregnancy and hormone replacement therapy as culprits in making varicose veins worse.

Though simply a cosmetic issue for some, varicose veins can also cause aches and pains, cramp and leg swelling. A medical study conducted 15 years ago in Switzerland showed that those with varicose veins also stand a 50 percent higher risk of developing blood clots or leg ulcers.

The unsightly veins seen on the surface of the leg are actually caused by an incompetent saphenous vein, the main vein that runs the length of the inner leg. Valves in the vein become weak and allow the blood to flow backward, or pool. Instead of carrying the blood back to your heart, the varicose veins let the blood fall toward your feet.