Raynaud's disease is a pathology characterized by the occurrence of angiotrophoneurosis with a predominant lesion of arterioles and small arteries and (in most cases of the upper limbs, a little less often - feet, skin on the nose, chin and ears). As a result, the affected area does not receive the necessary nutrition due to a significant decrease in the volume of blood entering it. A similar disease in women occurs several times more often than in men, mainly this occurs at a young or middle age.
Raynaud's syndrome is a phenomenon in which from time to time there is a reversible spasm of blood vessels in the fingers and toes in the form of a response to a stressful situation or hypothermia.
The main causes of this pathology
The percentage of hereditary predisposition to Raynaud's disease is very small, and makes up about 5% of all cases. The most frequent localization of the disease is the peripheral areas of the limbs - the soles of the feet and hands. The defeat of these sites most often occurs symmetrically.
The main causes of the development of this disease are:
- Among the main factors (causes) of Raynaud's disease is considered the effect of low temperatures. In some people, even short-term episodic exposure to cold and high humidity can cause the development of this disease.
- Injuries. As the causes of the disease, physical injuries are very dangerous, which include squeezing the limbs, excessive and intense stress, as well as injuries that are associated with exposure to a variety of chemicals.
- Rheumatic pathologies, such as periarthritis nodosa (an inflammatory process in the tendons), rheumatoid arthritis (joint disease), scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus.
- Another cause of Raynaud's disease is a strong emotional experience. There is scientific evidence that about half of the patients suffered from this syndrome due to psychoemotional overload.
- Violations of the functions of internal organs, as well as some endocrine diseases, such as hypothyroidism and pheochromocytoma.
- Down Syndrome.
- Taking certain medications can also cause the appearance of a similar syndrome. This applies to drugs that have a pronounced vasoconstrictor effect. Most often, such medications are used to treat hypertension and migraine.
Consider the symptoms of Raynaud's disease.
Symptomatology
This disease occurs in the form of seizures, each of which consists, as a rule, of three stages:
- Spasm of vessels of the upper or lower extremities. Fingers become cold and pale, pain can occur.
- The pain begins to intensify sharply, the skin of the limbs acquires a bluish tint, cold sweat appears.
- At the next stage, the intensity of the spasm decreases sharply, the skin warms up and its normal color returns. The functions of the limbs are restored.
Symptoms of Raynaud's disease affecting the color of the skin develop gradually. First, a characteristic pallor arises, the severity of which depends on the degree of spasm of the vessels. Most often, this phase is accompanied by pain, which is present, as a rule, in all phases, but is most pronounced in the first, when the fingers of the limbs are pale.
In some patients, seizures can occur several times a day, in others - once every few months. The progression of this disease leads to an extension of the duration of seizures up to about an hour, as well as to their increased frequency and sudden onset for no particular reason. In the spaces between them, the feet and hands are cold, cyanotic, moist.
What do patients complain about?
The frequency of dysfunction of the nervous system in Raynaud’s disease is observed in about half the cases. Patients complain about the following conditions:
- persistent headache;
- heaviness in the temples;
- pain in the back and limbs;
- impaired coordination of movements.
Raynaud's disease stages
The course of pathology is divided into three main stages: angiospastic, angioparalic and atrophoparalic.
At the first stage, the occurrence of short-term attacks of numbness of the skin, lowering the temperature in the affected areas and blanching of the skin with the subsequent occurrence of pain. After the attack, visual changes in these areas are not observed.
In the second stage, some other symptoms of the disease are added to the listed symptoms. The skin color begins to acquire a bluish tint, the color of the skin becomes “marble”, the appearance of puffiness, especially in the affected areas, is also possible. Pain during an attack becomes more intense and pronounced.
The duration of both stages is an average of three to five years. With the development of the pathological process, you can often observe the symptoms of all three stages simultaneously.
At the third stage of the pathology, a tendency to the formation of ulcers and panaritiums, up to the necrosis of the skin and soft tissues of the phalanges, appears.
This is what Raynaud's disease is dangerous.
What is recommended for illness?
With the development of such a pathology, it is extremely important to eliminate the factors contributing to the onset of the disease. If the cause of its occurrence is professional activity, it should be changed or adjusted.
It is contraindicated for people with this pathology to engage in activities that are associated with hypothermia of the extremities, precise movements of the fingers, contacts with a variety of chemicals. Which doctor should I contact for Raynaud's disease?
Diagnosis of a pathological phenomenon
If you suspect the development of the disease, you should contact a specialist such as an angiologist, however, a rheumatologist is also involved in the diagnosis and treatment of such diseases. Additionally, consultation with a vascular surgeon and cardiologist may be required.
What is the diagnosis of Raynaud's disease?
The main diagnostic criterion for the occurrence of this pathology is a stable spasm of the vessels of the skin. A distinctive feature of this spasm is that when warming, blood circulation in the limbs does not recover, they still remain pale and cold.
In a diagnostic examination of patients with Raynaud's disease (according to ICD-10 - code I73.0.), It should first be established whether such a phenomenon is a constitutional feature of peripheral blood circulation, that is, a natural physiological reaction under the influence of low temperatures of various intensities.
The following laboratory tests are also mandatory for diagnosis:
- General blood analysis.
- An expanded coagulogram, the properties of red blood cells and platelets, fibrinogen levels.
- Assays for c-reactive total and protein, globulin fractions and albumin.
At the present stage of development of medical science, specialists have noted the high efficiency of the new method for diagnosing Raynaud's disease - wide-field capillaroscopy of the nail bed. A similar method has the accuracy of diagnosis of this disease.
The final diagnosis can be established only after obtaining the results of a thorough instrumental and laboratory examination. If the patient does not have any concomitant diseases that could cause the onset of the symptom complex of the disease, an appropriate diagnosis is established.
Raynaud's disease treatment should be timely.
Therapeutic techniques
Patient therapy presents some difficulties, which are usually associated with the need to identify a specific cause that provoked a similar syndrome, therefore, the decision on how to treat this disease, or rather, in what way it is more correct to do this in order to achieve the greatest effectiveness, is discussed from various points view.
In cases where the primary occurrence of this pathology is determined, patient therapy should include treatment of the underlying pathology and observation by an appropriate specialist.
Clinical recommendations for Raynaud's disease should be strictly followed.
Treatment is usually symptomatic and includes the use of the following drugs:
- general strengthening medications;
- antispasmodics;
- analgesics;
- medications that normalize the hormonal background of the body.
In the first and second stages of the disease, drug therapy also includes agents that reduce blood density, for example, Dipyridamole or Curantil.
From physiotherapeutic procedures, it is possible to use:
- electric sleep;
- electrical stimulation of the frontotemporal zones in the brain;
- diadynamic currents or ultrasound on the lumbar and cervical sympathetic nodes;
- electrophoresis with soothing medicines and antispasmodics;
- magnetotherapy.
At the third stage of the development of the pathological process in Raynaud's disease, characterized by the development of ulcerative lesions of the skin and necrosis of its areas, wound healing therapy is prescribed. Treatment of pathology can last a very long time, sometimes for years, up to the period when the occurrence of angiospasm does not cease to respond to the use of vasodilator drugs.
One of the important components of the treatment of Raynaud's disease is the limitation of the patient's contacts with various provocative factors. With increased emotional stress, sedative medications should be prescribed to the patient. In cases where it is impossible to exclude contact with a cold and humid environment, patients are advised to dress warmer than usual, and especially to warm the feet and hands.
Surgical methods of treatment consist of sympathectomy, which is characterized by artificial interruption of the flow of pathological impulses that lead to spasms of blood vessels in some parts of the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for the state of the tone of small blood vessels.
Food
Diet when this pathology occurs coincides with the diet of patients suffering from atherosclerosis of the limbs. In case of Raynaud's disease, fatty foods should be excluded from the diet - smoked meats, sausages, fatty meats, chicken legs, mayonnaise, sour cream, fatty cottage cheese.
A large amount of B vitamins, vitamin C and rutin should be stored in the products, which help strengthen the vascular walls and increase their elasticity, which helps them to adequately respond to temperature changes in the environment.
It is also recommended to consume a large number of fruits and vegetables in any form. In addition to being considered a source of vitamins, these foods are rich in fiber, which is a source of nutrition for beneficial microorganisms that live on the intestinal mucosa, resulting in a lot of energy that warms the body.
What other treatment for Raynaud's disease will be effective?
Alternative methods of treating the disease
In the event of a pathology, a variety of alternative recipes are used, which with this disease have no less high efficiency than medications.
For example, fir baths have a good effect. In this case, the water in the bath should not be too hot. Fir oil is added to it, as well as any other oils that have a calming and vasodilating effect. The time for taking such a bath is not more than fifteen minutes.
There is also a Siberian recipe for treating such a syndrome - to eat a piece of bread with a few drops of fir oil on an empty stomach.
Treatment of Raynaud's disease with folk remedies should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor.
The following folk recipe is also advisable: take a few leaves of the aloe plant (preferably at least three years old), chop them and squeeze the juice. After this, it is necessary to prepare a gauze dressing, soak it with aloe juice and apply it to the affected areas of the body for several hours. To increase the positive effect of this procedure, preliminary massage of the limbs is recommended.
To make it easier to endure the sudden bouts of this disease, you can use soft massages, warming drinks and wool fabric, which wrap numb limbs.
Reynaud's drugs
With this pathology, the following medications are most popular, which are prescribed by specialists not only immediately at the time of the attack of the disease, but also for systemic treatment:
- "Actovegin" is an antihypoxic drug that has three types of effect: neuroprotective, metabolic and microcirculatory. The medication increases the absorption of oxygen by the tissues, positively affects the transport and utilization of glucose, which improves the energy metabolism of cells and reduces the formation of lactate during ischemia. In addition, this tool prevents the onset of apoptosis, which is induced by amyloid beta. A positive effect of the use of the medication is an increase in the speed of blood flow in the capillaries, a decrease in pericapillary zones, a decrease in the myogenic tone of arterioles and vascular sphincters, as well as the degree of shunting arteriovenular blood flow.
- "Midokalm" - a medication that is a central muscle relaxant. This medicine has a local anesthetic and membrane stabilizing effect, inhibits the passage of impulses of motor neurons and primary afferent fibers, which helps to block spinal synaptic reflexes, and inhibits the release of mediators by inhibiting the influx of calcium into synapses. The medication also enhances peripheral blood flow.
- “Sermion” is a drug that improves peripheral and cerebral blood circulation, which, in addition, is an alpha-blocker. It improves hemodynamic and metabolic processes, reduces platelet aggregation and normalizes the rheological properties of blood, improves blood flow in the limbs, has an adrenergic blocking effect and affects neurotransmitter cerebral systems, increasing their activity, contributes to the improvement of cognitive processes.
These medicines are widely used in systemic therapy and prevention of Raynaud's disease, significantly reducing the frequency of pathological attacks and the manifestation of the main symptoms of this disease. Do not start the disease, be sure to consult a specialist for first aid at the first symptoms.