Raynaud's causes blood vessels in the fingers and toes to narrow excessively in response to cold or stress.
✦ AI summary
Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is a common condition where fingers (and sometimes other areas) have exaggerated blood vessel spasms triggered by cold or stress, and it's fairly widespread — one UK study found a prevalence of about 894 per 100,000 people, more common in older adults and women, and less common in Black populations and in London for reasons not fully explained [10]. Research describes RP as involving a mix of vascular, nerve, and immune system factors, including oversensitive blood vessel receptors and possibly immune antibodies affecting blood vessel tone [6]. RP can occur on its own ("primary") or alongside autoimmune diseases like systemic sclerosis, Sjögren's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and others, where it's often one of several related symptoms such as sicca (dryness) symptoms [6,12,4]. Imaging studies show that people in early stages of systemic sclerosis with RP can already have detectable changes in skin thickness, blood flow, and small blood vessels (capillaries) even before major skin or organ symptoms appear, and specialized tools like nailfold videocapillaroscopy help distinguish primary RP from RP linked to scleroderma-type diseases
This is an AI-generated summary of the sources below — not medical advice. Always talk to a doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.
Colour changes in fingersNumbnessTinglingPain on warmingCold extremitiesFatigue
Comment on 'effects of locally applied water-filtered infrared a irradiation adjunctive to iloprost and carbon dioxide hand baths in patients with systemic sclerosis and severe Raynaud's phenomenon - a randomized controlled trial'.
Pharmacological targeting of the TLR8/AP-1 axis ameliorates scleroderma skin inflammation and fibrosis by suppressing monocyte-mediated endothelial injury.
Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8) is implicated in systemic sclerosis (SSc) pathogenesis, but its precise cellular mechanisms remain elusive. This study elucidates TLR8's role in monocyte-endothelial crosstalk and evaluates the therapeutic potential of targeting the TLR8/AP-1 axis in SSc. TLR expression i…
Multimodal imaging evaluation of pre-systemic sclerosis patients presenting with Raynaud's Phenomenon from a reference microcirculatory clinic versus healthy controls: a cross-sectional study.
To determine whether multimodal imaging tools can detect dermal and microvascular abnormalities in pre-systemic sclerosis (pre-SSc) patients compared with matched healthy controls (HC). Non-selected pre-SSc patients (n = 20, fulfilling LeRoy's criteria) from the Ghent University (hospital) Raynaud's…
Identifying candidate core domains for clinical trials in systemic sclerosis-associated Raynaud's phenomenon and digital ulcers.
The OMERACT Scleroderma Vascular Disease Working Group sought to identify essential core outcome domains for inclusion in clinical trials focusing on Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) and/or digital ulcers (DUs) related to systemic sclerosis (SSc). Candidate domains identified from previous qualitative work…
Skin involvement in the catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome: A review from CAPS registry.
ObjectiveTo describe the prevalence, clinical manifestations, histopathological features, and antibody profile associated to skin involvement in patients with catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS).MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study of the patients included in the "CAPS Registry," a…
A Rare Association of Anti-SRP Antibody-Positive Immune-Mediated Necrotizing Myopathy and Sjögren Disease: Two Case Reports.
Immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM) is an autoimmune myositis which is characterized by severe muscle fiber necrosis and refractoriness to immunotherapies. Overlap between myositis and other autoimmune disorders is well-recognized; however, the coexistence of IMNM and Sjögren disease (SjD) i…
Raynaud's phenomenon: a vascular or an autoimmune-mediated disorder? Facts and fancy.
Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is a common vasospastic disorder characterized by transient digital ischemia triggered by cold exposure or emotional stress. It is classified as primary or secondary, the latter often associated with autoimmune connective tissue diseases such as systemic sclerosis, mixed co…
Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, but not calcium channel blockers, improve peripheral vascular function in systemic sclerosis.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare autoimmune disease associated with vasculopathy. Raynaud's phenomenon is a common symptom of SSc, and treatment guidelines support calcium channel blocker (CCB) and phosphodiesterase inhibitor-5 (PDE5i) as first- and second-line therapy, respectively. However, the…