Raynaud's Disease Research Paper

Raynaud’s disease (pronounced ray-NOHZ) is named after Maurice Raynaud, a French physician who first recognized the condition in 1862. It is a disease that affects the circulatory system. The disease makes the extremities of your body such as your toes and fingers feel numb and or cold, it can also affect your nipples, ears, lips, nose and penis. Symptoms of Raynaud’s usually occur when one is under stress or when they are cold. Raynaud’s disease is also known as Raynaud’s phenomenon or Raynaud’s syndrome. It is said to affect women more than men. While Raynaud’s affects people’s quality of life usually it isn’t life threating or debilitating. Raynaud’s can be subdivide into two categories, primary and secondary.
Primary Raynaud’s is idiopathic. It is a circulatory disease in which the …show more content…
It is thought that people who live in colder climates are affected more so than people who live in warmer areas. Approximately one third of people who have primary Raynaud’s has a first degree relative with a history of it. Women usually present with the condition between age 20-40 while men present much later with it. It is found to affect women up to five times more than men.
While there isn’t a single test or way to know if you have Raynaud’s, doctors usually diagnosis based on a person’s description of symptoms. A physician may try to provoke an attack by submerging someone’s hands in ice water. Physicians can do a nailfold capillaroscopy or different blood tests to try to diagnosis primary Raynaud’s. Secondary Raynaud’s can be diagnosed by reviewing the person’s lifestyle, medications or by doing an exam, blood tests and looking at the complete medical history in search of other diseases.
Some complications of Raynaud’s are nail ridges, in severe cases ulcers on the affected area and dry gangrene which occurs when the arteries stay contracted preventing blood from bringing oxygen to the