Cold hands are a sign of Raynaud’s, a condition that causes the small blood vessels in the fingers, toes, ears and nose to constrict when their temperature drops. Though it’s usually worse in the winter, even in warm weather the slightest temperature drop, such as moving into an air-conditioned atmosphere can invoke pain. The crippling pain can make it difficult to move hands and fingers.
During an attack the skin whitens and the area becomes numb or extremely painful. Sufferers often develop sores and patches of hard skin, which makes walking painful; because of poor blood flow their skin is also prone to ulceration and infection. The severity of the condition varies.
Nine out of every ten sufferers are female - it’s thought that estrogen makes the blood thicker, slowing down its flow in the tiny vessels (the symptoms often first appear with puberty and attacks can be worse at certain times in the monthly cycle, sometimes tailing off after the menopause).
There are two types of Raynaus’s, the primary and secondary. The latter is potentially far more serious, where symptoms are often a sign of an underlying problem.
It can be a side-effect of certain medication (such as migraine treatments, betablockers and the Pill), or exposure to chemicals or a virus. More worrying, the symptoms could be caused by an auto-immune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or scleroderma.
Some of these conditions are potentially fatal; one form of scleroderma, for instance, is linked to lung disease and problems with the kidneys, gastrointestinal system and the heart.
Source: DailyMail, 10 February 2009
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Chapter: Health ::
24 February 2009
