What is Raynaud's Phenomenon

Host: Two more things; there is a condition called Raynaud's phenomenon. What does that mean? Guest: Raynaud's phenomenon is when patients complain of discoloration of the finger tips, sometimes that that turns blue, but majority of the times they turn white. Host: Is there any particular group more prone to it more than any other group? Guest: Women have the highest incidence of Raynaud's disease; it is much less common in men. Host: And usually it is benign? Guest: Usually it is benign, it is almost always benign; there are very few causes where there is a pre-disposing cause like an embolus in the artery; for example, somebody who has atrial fibrillation who would have an embolus in the heart and would project it into the arm. Host: That means if somebody is -- it could be a precursor, sometimes, from arthritis? Guest: It could be from the precursor from rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus. Host: So your primary care doctor should do these reactive tests or you might order that and you might even have an eye doctor see that person -- this were from an arthritis; an eye doctor can see inflammation in the eyes very quickly. Guest: It is a syndrome called Sjogren syndrome; you would have inflammation in the eyes, burning in the urine, and pain in the joints; and these people also have inflammation in the -- Host: It affects both hands uniformly; so it is unusual that some space occupying lesion is causing it, because it would affect one side and not the other; is that correct? Guest: It is systemic disease, so it would affect both hands. Host: That is the tip off; you see both sides at the same time.