The Patriotic Disease
What Is It and How to Treat It
First described in 1862 by French medical student Maurice Raynaud, Raynaud’s disease, also known as Raynaud’s Phenomenon, is characterized by extremely specific areas of cold and stress-induced spasms of very small blood vessels, called capillaries, that disrupt blood flow to the fingers and toes, but also the tips of the ears or nose; even the tongue has been documented.
The body normally shifts blood toward the core in order to prevent heat loss when a person is in a cold environment. But, for some unknown reason, the 3–5% of people (more women than men) with Raynaud’s syndrome have systems that overreact, causing a nearly complete or complete shutdown of the most peripheral aspect of their vascular system.
Raynaud’s affects areas that are dense between arterioles, very small blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood, and venules, very small blood vessels that carry unoxygenated blood. Known as arteriovenous anastomosis, they supply areas of the body that have little to no hair, bypassing capillaries that normally bring blood to the skin.
The affected areas feel numb, and there is often a clear line of demarcation between the affected and unaffected areas. It’s often referred to as the “Patriotic Disease” because the affected areas usually turn white because the small…
