Word: raynaud
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...ordinary folks, biofeedback can be a useful tool in treating dozens of ailments, from asthma to epilepsy, chronic pain to drug addiction. It is perhaps the single most effective treatment for Raynaud's disease, a condition mainly afflicting women, in which the fingers turn white, cold and painful when they are exposed to cold. A series of biofeedback sessions trains sufferers to improve circulation in their hands. Many insurers now cover biofeedback, and even some old-line hospitals offer the therapy...
...fact, techniques like muscle relaxation, biofeedback, self-hypnosis, rhythmic breathing and exercise can also elicit the relaxation response. These methods are now widely used at U.S. hospitals and clinics to treat such stress-related problems as migraine and tension headaches, Raynaud's disease...
Right Track. To Britain's Surgeon Dennis Walder, the basic mistake in research on Raynaud's disease has been its concentration on the blood vessels involved instead of the blood itself. And when a study of 22 patients at Newcastle-upon-Tyne showed that in 21 cases their blood was thicker than that of healthy subjects, Walder felt sure he was on the right track. But he needed to know just what was causing the blood to change-and merely measuring its viscosity was no easy task...
Clotting Factor. To explain the higher blood viscosity of Raynaud's victims, the Walder group now indicts an excess of fibrinogen, one of the several substances involved in the blood-clotting mechanism, and a major factor in blood sludging. On this theory, the surgeons are treating 40 patients with intravenous drips of blood thinners ("plasma expanders") and anti-clotting drugs. The researchers claim no dramatic effects, but report cautiously that these treatments have improved the patients' peripheral circulation, "at least temporarily." In the more serious cases, they say, the treatments "were of considerable value...
...Raynaud's victim who has long given up hope of getting any substantial relief, even those modest claims amount to hopeful talk...