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.
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