In an attempt to rewarm her hands so she can resume working, Ms. J rubs them together, holds them under warm running water, and places them under her axillae. Ms. Jis very concerned that these attacks could be caused by a serious disease that may permanently damage her hands, leaving her unable to work. Because of her concerns, Ms. J hasn't been sleeping well and has increased her cigarette smoking from ih pack to 1 pack per day.
A recent consensus statement on terminology produced by the vascular medicine section of the Royal Society of Medicine recommended abandoning the terms Raynaud's syndrome and Raynaud's disease because of the lack of consensus on their use (Raynaud's phenomenon: new insights, new treatments. Conference organised by the Vascular Medicine Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2011 May). In this review we refer to primary and secondary Raynaud's phenomenon. Recent advances in the management and treatment ofthis phenomenon have followed on from the findings of randomised controlled trials treatment strategies. Wereview observational studies, randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews, and guidelines to provide an overview ofthe clinical presenta tion of Raynaud's phenomenon, its risk factors, its diagnosis, and the current and potential treatments. Who gets Raynaud's phenomenon? The prevalence of Raynaud's phenomenon varies widely across and populations. Non population based studies of prevalence show that 3-12.5% of men and 6-20% of report symptoms of Raynaud's phenomenon.