Named for French doctor Maurice Raynaud, Raynaud's Disease was first described in 1862.
Raynaud's Disease is characterized by vascular anomalies that restrict blood flow to the extremities when the sufferer is exposed to cold temperatures or stress.
The disease is most often diagnosed in women in their teens and early twenties.
There are two types of Raynaud's. When the vascular anomalies are caused by an apparent secondary cause, the ailment is called Raynaud's Phenomenon. When there is no secondary cause for the symptoms it is called Raynaud's Disease, or Primary Renaud's.
Raynaud's is defined by its extreme visible symptoms. There are 3 cyclic color changes that occur in the extremities of Renaud's disease sufferers.
When a Renaud's sufferer is exposed to cold or stress their fingers, toes, nose or ears will often turn white as their blood vessels constrict diminishing blood flow to the extremities. When the vascular constriction is extreme and extended, the extremities will turn blue from hypoxea. Once the extremities are brought back into a warm environment or the stressor is removed, they will often swell and turn bright red.
Primary Renauds is not typically life threatening, though severe cases of the disease can cause gangrene from reduced blood flow and hypoxeia of the extremities. In these severe cases, medication is sometimes used to increase blood flow, and even vascular surgery might be attempted in an affort to get blood flow normalized.
This sick is typically more of an annoyance than a threat but does have some interesting and apparent physical symptoms. So, I give it a
1 on my "lethality scale" (1-10)
and a 2 on my "disturbing scale" (1-10)
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