by Dr.
Lawrence Wilson
©
January 2010, L.D. Wilson Consultants, Inc.
All information in
this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure
of any disease or health condition.
Definition of RaynaudŐs syndrome. Excessively reduced blood flow in
response to cold or emotional stress.
This causes discoloration of the fingers, toes, and occasionally other
areas. They may turn white or
blue. This condition may also
cause nails to become brittle with longitudinal ridges.
Terminology. RaynaudŐs
syndrome is also called RaynaudŐs disease or RaynaudŐs phenomenon.
On this website, I use the terms interchangeably.
SUMMARY
Impaired
circulation and RaynaudŐs syndrome are extremely
common conditions today. They
usually go away or diminish if one follows a nutritional balancing
program. This article discusses
the symptoms, causes and correction of these circulation problems.
Problems
with blood circulation are extremely common. The main problem they cause is reduced oxygenation,
nutrition and hydration of the cells.
Reduced circulation also causes impaired elimination of all cellular
waste products. This may not sound
serious, but it is one of the major causes of illness and even death in the
body.
The major symptom for many people is
they experience cold hands and/or feet, especially in colder weather. RaynaudŐs
syndrome or disease is a more extreme form in which the hands and feet can turn
white or blue with cold, even when the ambient temperature is not that cold.
Another
symptom is impaired healing of wounds, injuries, bruises and other trauma to
the hands and feet. One can even
have impaired nail growth, splitting of the nails, ridges on the nails and
other abnormalities of the extremities due to impaired circulation.
Another
symptom can be baldness or hair loss.
Another is impaired memory, dementia, and other mental symptoms that are
due to impaired circulation to the brain.
Another symptom is pain.
Many peopleŐs pain is due to impaired circulation to some area of the
body. This may be due to muscle
tension, arteriosclerosis, cancer and other causes.
There
are so many causes of impaired circulation that I will only name the most
common of them. Some are quite
rare, for example, such as parasites that block blood vessels and some
infections. However, the most
common reasons include:
Arteriosclerosis
and atherosclerosis. These
occur mainly in people over the age of 40 or so. However, they can occur in younger people as well. As the arteries become clogged,
circulation to the part of the body served by the arteries diminishes.
Many older
people have diminished circulation to the brain, for example, for this
reason. It gives rise to dementias
and many other problems associated with aging.
Nutritional
balancing is excellent to reverse this condition. We do not recommend or need chelation
therapy to reverse arteriosclerosis.
However, chelation is often better than bypass
surgery and other surgeries for impaired circulation.
Sympathetic
overdrive. This is a specific kind of overuse and irritation of the
sympathetic or fight-or-flight nervous system. This activity tends to draw the blood toward the center of
the body and away from the extremities.
It
is part of a fight-or-flight reaction.
In an evolutionary sense, it is designed so that in the event of a
severe trauma, one may have a better chance of survival if blood is not pooled
in the limbs, but is moved to the trunk of the body. For more about sympathetic dominance, read the article on
this site titled sympathetic dominance.
Sluggish
oxidation. Slow oxidation means that the thyroid and adrenal glands are
underactive and the body is generally quite tired. A common effect is a slowing of circulation, as well as a
lower body temperature. These
combine to cause impaired circulation and cold hands and feet.
The causes
of slow oxidation are many, from fatigue and exhaustion to vegetarian or other
inadequate diets, to various illnesses.
For more on this topic, read slow
oxidation on this website.
Excessive
levels of toxic metals or toxic chemicals. This is usually an indirect
cause, but often plays a role.
Certain toxic metals such as mercury and excessive copper affect the
thyroid gland, for example, and can cause cold hands and feet.
Fatigue. Fatigue
often causes impaired circulation
Sugar eating.
Certain foods are ŇyinÓ or cold in Chinese medical terminology. They include anything containing sugar,
such as candy, cookies, fruit, juices, ice cream, fruit smoothies and even hot
chocolate or hot apple cider.
Juices are especially yin as they usually contain more sugar than solid
food. These may all cause a person
to feel cold.
Sugars also
contribute to slow oxidation and damage the adrenal glands. Thus sugars can contribute to cold
hands and feet in a number of ways.
Hormone
imbalances. Certain hormones, especially estrogen, may control circulation
as well. The mechanism is not
known. However, this may be one
reason that young women, in particular, and all women, in general, have warmer
extremities at times than men or older people, as a group.
For
example, many women experience hot flashes to some degree during
menopause. This is related to the
hormone levels as well. While the
adrenal and thyroid glands play a role, their exact mechanism is not fully
understood.
Other
hormones such as testosterone and others may also improve circulation. Nutritional balancing programs can help
balance all hormones. We never
suggest hormone replacement, even with bio-identical or natural hormones. It is not needed and often unbalances
the body after a while in subtle but harmful ways.
CORRECTION OF RAYNAUDŐS
SYNDROME AND IMPAIRED CIRCULATION
Correction
involves reversing the causes above.
Nutritional balancing programs emphasize balancing the oxidation rate
using the slow oxidizer diet and nutritional supplements. Avoiding all sweets, including
artificial sweeteners and other food chemicals, may be another key to
overcoming cold hands and feet.
It also
involves lifestyle modifications such as more rest and sleep and a
detoxification protocol to remove toxic metals and toxic chemicals.
Sweating to improve circulation. A fabulous therapy for all circulatory
problems that I am aware of is sauna therapy, particularly with a near infrared
sauna. The sauna benefits
circulation for at least a dozen reasons.
These range from relaxing the sympathetic nervous system to removing
toxins in the skin and extremities.
The sauna is also relaxing, safe, powerful and inexpensive to use at
home on a daily basis.
Relaxation and meditation. At times, meditation and relaxation
exercises are also extremely helpful.
This is particularly the case if a person demonstrates the sympathetic
dominance pattern on a hair mineral analysis.
Other
corrective measures may seem simple, but can be most helpful. These include always dressing very
warmly, even if it is embarrassing to wear gloves, a hat, boots and a long
coat. This can be excellent to
help prevent the body from going into sympathetic dominance, for example.
Making
sure one rests and sleeps at least 9 or 10 hours every night and learning to
stay calm all the time are also very helpful. Using all these methods together, most cases of RaynaudŐs syndrome and other types of poor circulation
usually improve easily and rapidly.
Symptomatic remedies. At times, extra remedies in addition to
the nutritional balancing program are needed or helpful for a while until
general health improves. These may
include extra vitamin E, gingko biloba, higher dose
niacin and perhaps simple and fairly safe nutrients or herbs. However, these will be much less
effective if one does not also use a complete nutritional balancing
program. For information about how
to begin such a program, see the home page of this website.
OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT
CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONS
There
are numerous articles about cardiovascular health conditions on this
website. They are available by clicking here.
Home | Hair Analysis | Saunas | Books | Articles | Detox Protocols