Raynaud’s Syndrome, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

Raynaud’s Syndrome

What is Raynaud's Syndrome?

Raynaud's Syndrome is a rare transient vasospasm of small arteries of the hand precipitated by cold.

Arteries are major blood vessels that deliver blood from the heart to different parts of the body.

Raynaud's Syndrome is a rare disorder of the blood vessels usually more in the fingers and less in the toes.

People with this disorder have attacks that cause the blood vessels to narrow.

There is typical whiteness and blueness of fingers.

When this happens, blood cannot get to the surface of the skin and the affected areas turn white and blue.

When the blood flow returns, the skin turns red and throbs or tingles.

In severe cases of Raynaud’s syndrome, blood flow loss results in sores or tissue death.

Cold weather and stress can spark off attacks of Raynaud’s syndrome.

Vasospasm (narrowing of the blood vessels) of the arteries reduces blood flow to the fingers and toes.

Rarely, the disorder involves the nose, ears, lips and nipples.

There are two main types of
1. Primary Raynaud’s Syndrome (also called Raynaud’s disease), the reason for this condition is not known.

Primary Raynaud's disease is more frequent and is likely to be less severe than secondary Raynaud's phenomenon.

2. Secondary Raynaud’s Syndrome has an underlying disease, condition, or other factor.

This form of Raynaud's is often known as the Raynaud's phenomenon.

Minimal or no blood flows to affected body parts during an attack.

Consequently, the skin may turn white and then blue for a brief period of time.

The affected areas may appear red and throb, tingle, burn, or feel numb as blood flow returns.

If you have primary or secondary Raynaud's Syndrome, cold temperatures or stress can trigger "Raynaud's attacks."

In both types of Raynaud's Syndrome, even mild or brief changes in temperature can cause Raynaud's attacks.

Removing something out of the freezer or being exposed to temperatures below 60 degrees Fahrenheit can cause the fingers to turn blue.

Most people who have Raynaud's Syndrome have no long-term tissue damage or disability.
However, people who have severe Raynaud's Syndrome can develop skin sores or gangrene from prolonged or repeated Raynaud's attacks.

Gangrene is the death or decay of body tissues.

What are the causes of Raynaud's Syndrome?

Often the cause of Raynaud's Syndrome is not known.

People in colder climates more commonly develop Raynaud's Syndrome than people in warmer areas.

Causes are:

1 .Classically cold precipitated, more common in winter

2. Emotional factors such as fear and anxiety

It may happen secondary to other conditions:

1 .Auto immune disease such as SLE

2. Arterial compression syndrome from cervical ribs

3. Hypothyroidism

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction

Chapter 1 Raynaud’s Syndrome

Chapter 2 Causes

Chapter 3 Symptoms

Chapter 4 Diagnosis

Chapter 5 Treatment

Chapter 6 Prognosis

Chapter 7 Hypothermia

Chapter 8 Gangrene

Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Feb 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311293992

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Raynaud’s Syndrome,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2015 Smashwords Edition

Published By Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes the Raynaud’s Syndrome, Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions or in vernacular terms

(What You Need to treat Raynaud’s Syndrome)

This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Condition) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Conditions into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://ken-med.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 590 amazon kindle books and some into Smashwords.com eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical conditions.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring you the latest information about a condition or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Raynaud’s Syndrome

What is Raynaud's Syndrome?

Raynaud's Syndrome is a rare transient vasospasm of small arteries of the hand precipitated by cold.

Arteries are major blood vessels that deliver blood from the heart to different parts of the body.

Raynaud's Syndrome is a rare disorder of the blood vessels usually more in the fingers and less in the toes.

People with this disorder have attacks that cause the blood vessels to narrow.

There is typical whiteness and blueness of fingers.

When this happens, blood cannot get to the surface of the skin and the affected areas turn white and blue.

When the blood flow returns, the skin turns red and throbs or tingles.

In severe cases of Raynaud’s syndrome, blood flow loss results