Prevalence of Raynaud's phenomenon in a healthy Greek population

Abstract

Objective-Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is comprised of repeated episodes of colour changes of the skin of digits on cold exposure or emotional stress. The prevalence of RP in the general population is variable fluctuating between 4%-15%, among surveys. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of RP in a healthy working Greek population and to investigate the possible association of RP with various demographic, social and other factors. Methods-A total of 756 employees of the University Hospital of Ioannina was included in the study. They belong to the administrative (120 subjects), nursing and technical (a representative sample of 418 and 218 subjects, respectively) personnel. Five hundred subjects (111 men and 389 women) responded in a face to face interview based on a specially conformed questionnaire. The study began in November 1997 and was completed in March 1998. Results-Twenty six subjects with RP (1 man and 25 women) were found. Their mean (SD) age was 32.73 (5.77) years. The prevalence of RP was 5.2% (0.9% in men and 6.4% in women). The sex ratio, male/female, was 1/7.1. An association between RP and migraine was found. However, there were no significant correlations of RP with smoking, alcohol and coVee consumption, dietary habits, occupational history and drug exposure. No social or other demographic parameters associated to RP frequency were found. Conclusions-The prevalence of RP (5.2%) in the population studied is relatively low compared with previous studies. RP focuses on the fourth decade of life and aVects mainly women. There was no evidence of any correlation of RP with social, environmental or personal parameters while an association of RP with migraine was found. Geographical or genetic factors, or both, may be responsible for these results.

Estrogen potentiates vasopressin-induced contraction of female rat aorta by enhancing cyclooxygenase-2 and thromboxane function

“…Primary pulmonary hypertension (21,63), migraine headache (41), and Raynaud's disease (6,9,22,62) all occur in premenopausal women at rates as much as fourfold higher than in men. Furthermore, an association has been reported between Raynaud's disease and these other afflictions, which suggests that a common mechanism of vasospasm may be involved (8a).…”

Estrogen potentiates constrictor prostanoid function in female rat aorta by upregulation of cyclooxygenase-2 and thromboxane pathway expression

“…Thus primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH; 24, 84), migraine headache (5,63), and Raynaud's Disease (9,29,83) all occur in premenopausal women at rates as much as fourfold higher than in men. Furthermore, an association has been reported between Raynaud's Disease and these other afflictions, suggesting that a common mechanism of vasospasm may be involved (6a).…”

Sympathy for the devil: the role of thromboxane in the regulation of vascular tone and blood pressure

“…This especially holds true for the role of TxA 2 and PGH 2 in the regulation of vascular tone and BP. Second, the incidences of primary vascular diseases involving excessive vasoconstriction, such as migraine headache (6, 65), primary pulmonary HT (30,81), and Raynaud's disease (11,34,80), are as much as fourfold higher in premenopausal women than in men, and excessive production of TxA 2 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of these and other primary vascular diseases, especially in women (5,8,22,27,43,68,82). These data suggest that the ovarian steroids, probably estrogen, may be responsible for the elevated vascular TxA 2 associated with these vascular diseases in women.…”