Vascular Diseases: A Peculiar Viscosity

In the long century since Raynaud's disease was described by the French physician for whom it is named, the medical profession has learned little about either its cause or any possible cure. Its symptoms remain naggingly familiar. The victim is usually a ma ture woman, who first notices the trou ble in her 20s. The slightest chill can slow her peripheral circulation until her hands, feet, the tip of her nose and the edges of her ears turn blue and ache excruciatingly from oxygen shortage.

Eventually, persistent oxygen starvation can cause gangrene; fingers...

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